Second Chances
by Edward'sChipper
Summary: She happens to be stuck on the side of the road, car engine smoking. He happens to be driving back from a conference. Can an accidental meeting really mean a second chance at happiness? Or . . . not?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight, blah, blah, blah. But I would like to thank Stephenie Meyer for getting me to write.

A/N:

6/4/10 – Hi everyone. I have re-edited Chapters 1-13 of this story, and am now reposting them. The main storyline remains the same, just some additional details, descriptions, and other, um, minor things have changed. I loaded this story anxious to see my first fanfic "live". After it was accepted to , I began to tinker with it as I gave chapters to my wonderful beta, Jenny_Cullen. As any perfectionist knows, it's just so hard to let it go.

You can choose to reread, if you've already read them, or not, but I wanted to let you know. Chapters going forward will most likely post the day of, or the day after, they post on .

Thank you all for your patience, as this puppy has lain dormant here for far too long. You should be seeing weekly, if not biweekly updates to it going forward.

**Please note:** This story does contain rape. It is neither gratuitous not does it glorify or condone rape in any way, but it is integral to the story. I understand this may be an issue for some people and respect that you may choose to not to continue reading because of it. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me, and I'll be happy to discuss it.

Thanks to Alexis Danaan for her rib-cracking wit, superhuman writing skills, general greatness, and for keeping an old, I mean more mature, chick writing.

Thanks to my pal Megan, the rabid Twins fan, for her editing prowess, secret workplace meetings to discuss, um, work, and for not blushing when talking about . . . well, you'll see.

And to my Bossman, who as a male familiar with Twilight, lied and said he wanted to read this, and for enduring all of the lovey-dovey shit.

* * *

A Foreshadowing:

_"I . . . I'm waiting for someone. He should be here shortly." Dammit Catherine, you have to do better than that. _

_"He went to, uh, go to the bathroom." Stupid. I tried to figure out if I could make it past him. I wondered how long it would be before I would see anyone else on the trail. He didn't look very big, maybe my height. I think I could get around him if I faked him to the right and then went left . . . _

_"No. I don't believe he did."_

_"Yes, he's just over . . ."_

_He was a mere step in front of me before I finished my blink. "No, you're traveling alone. Not very prudent. You never know who you might meet . . . in a place like this."_

_His hand reached out to caress my face. I couldn't move. I should've jumped his hand was so cold, but I didn't, as he brought it across my cheek, down across my jawbone, stopping on my neck. I could feel his breath as he leaned in and whispered, _

_"I'll be waiting for you._

_

* * *

_

*The music listed at the beginning of each chapter is a suggested "mood" enhancer for the chapter. My own private score. All the music listed is the music I listened to while writing this.

**Chapter 1**

Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 2 in E minor Op. 27: Adagio

CathPOV

_Shit. _

_Just great._ I stopped the car on the side of the road and got out to pretend I actually knew something about car engines. Smoke. Lots of it. Something told me not to even attempt to open the hood. _Damn rental cars._ I had decided to drive 101 up the coast, around and through Olympic National Park. I planned to stop in, just outside Forks, Washington and stay in a little lodge along the coast – Kalaloch Lodge. Their website said the sunsets were absolutely "amazing". But here I was, along the side of the road with a busted something-or-other that was sending great plumes of smoke out the hood of my economy bucket-of-bolts. Of course, I don't have a clue about cars. I had AAA. But I was in the middle of basically nowhere, well, relatively nowhere compared to the suburbs of Chicago. It seemed AAA knew that as well, since they told me it might be an hour before they got to me. _An hour? Really?_

I knew I was flying into Seattle for work, so I just studied MapQuest of the surrounding area and picked Forks. It just seemed to speak to me. Maybe because my dinner had been in the microwave when I first starting researching? I laughed to myself. I just needed to get away – away from work, away from family – somewhere to recoup. Recoup what? A sense of purpose? A goal? Passion? Self-worth? Me. Being single and alone had its perks _most_ of the time. Being _alone _didn't always mean _lonely_. "Choice," I'd always said, just like Lloyd's friends in front of the Gas & Sip. I'd had enough male-based heartbreak in my past to last 2 lifetimes. After a handful of men find reasons to leave you, you have a tendency to lock the front door.

But it was different now. Something was changing and I could feel it in the air. What's that song? "Somethin's Comin'"? Yep, I could sense it. It was a tingly feeling that I would get in the pit of my stomach, like small sparks or pinpricks. But just _what _was coming, I didn't know. For the last month or so, I'd been considering changing jobs. I had been in sales for 16 years. I met a lot of people, but it seemed to me that 90% of the time I was alone, driving on strange roads, flying in and out of airports. Although I didn't mind that part - I loved seeing America on my company's dime – something was missing now. I had accomplished everything I could, won every award, reached every goal, and attained every promotion, within the position. It was time for something new - a new challenge, a new opportunity, a new life?

No. This . . . feeling . . . it was more than just a job change. It felt . . . life-altering. Who or what or when, was anybody's guess.

Something told me I was close to an airport because I saw a plane go in for a landing. Of course, it was no O'Hare, but I was pretty sure the little metal object I saw was a plane. There was a small airport around here somewhere. I couldn't have been too far from the town. I didn't know what to do, and it was going to be dark soon. The last thing I wanted was to be on the side of a very lonely road (or what seemed like it to me) in the dark.

Just as the panic was starting to set in, I saw flashing red lights. A cop. _Sweet Jesus I was saved._ Most of the time, flashing red lights behind me were a very bad thing. Mostly because it meant I was speeding, and I rarely glanced at the speedometer when on an open road. If I had someplace to go, I wanted to _get _there.

He pulled up behind me, and I instantly became nervous – it was like a reflex. He opened his door, and got out of the car.

"Looks like you have some car trouble, young lady?" He smiled and started to walk towards me.

"I, uh, yes. Yes, sir." _Why did I just call him sir? Dumbass._ He seemed to be about my age. As he came closer, I suddenly felt myself hold my breath. He had bushy dark hair, dreamy brown eyes, and a mustache that for some reason I just wanted to feel caress my cheek, and then tickle my lip. _Yikes, where did that come from?_

He looked at me for a moment, probably because I was staring. "Excuse me, are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." _Breathe._ "I'm just. . . I was getting nervous being out here all alone. I don't know anything about cars, and well, I'm not from around here." _Go ahead keep babbling, ya airhead._

He laughed. "Yeah, I can tell. First off, I think I know just about everyone from Forks down to Oil City. I'm the Chief of Police in Forks, Charlie Swan. Nice to meet you, er, Miz. . . .? He reached out to shake my hand. I took his. A good grip. Solid. My grandpa taught me all about "good handshakes" when I was little. He said you could get to know a man just by the way he shook your hand.

I returned the grip like grandpa taught me. "It's Miss. And please call me Catherine. Catherine O'Hara." We kept shaking hands, longer than acceptable. His hand was rough, but not in a bad way. I imagined what he'd done with his hands to make them that way. What he _could_ do with those hands. He was looking at me with a funny expression on his face, as his head cocked to the side. His smile receded a bit, as if he was studying me, rather than out of dislike.

"Have we, uh, met before?" He was still shaking my hand.

"Not that I'm aware of," I replied, and gently removed my hand. He shook his head ever so slightly, as if he all of a sudden realized _his _staring.

"I'm sorry, you just look . . . oh, nothing." _Ok, so that's weird._ He started to walk towards the front of my car. "Well, let's take a look under here." He tried to open the hood, realized he couldn't, and began to walk back towards me. I started to back up when suddenly he reached out and pulled me right into his chest. I was still registering its firmness against my cheek when at precisely the same moment, a car whizzed by us doing what seemed like 150, which happened to be only half the pace of my pulse. My breath hitched a bit when my mind registered his scent, a wondrous mixture of inherent man – I couldn't begin to describe it. The tingle in my fingertips made me think momentarily on what it would feel like to run my hands over those very firm pects of his. Being the more conservative part of my body at the moment, my mind overruled, and my arms stayed at my sides. But I was acutely aware of Mr. Police Chief's arms firmly around me, with his hands on the small of my back.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I thought it best to pull you out of the way of that car." My eyes met his and I was sure I was seven shades of pink. The look on his face was a mix of concern, surprise, and something else I couldn't put my finger on. But it was his eyes. It was like a million and one lifetimes had been lived in them, but they were soft, like a velvet blanket all warm and inviting. I wanted to stare up into those beautiful brown eyes forever – they reminded me of chocolate.

"Yyyyes. Thank you. I . . . didn't see it coming." _Ok, time to wake up._ I pushed away carefully avoiding the street. I didn't think it was a good idea to be in the arms of the Police Chief any longer, and being that close to a man made me . . . uncomfortable. I walked up to the hood of the car. "You want to flip the button in there, and I'll get the hood?" I asked. _Smooth. Real smooth_. Now if I could just control my breathing. . .

His puzzled look lasted only a couple of seconds, but long enough for me to register it. "Yeah, sure." He opened the door, popped the button, and I immediately flipped the lever, pushed the heavy metal up, and rested the bar thingy in the proper place under the hood. At least I knew how to do _that_ much. There was just a little bit of smoke now, but I happened to catch all of it on my next breath, and started to cough.

"Hey you might want to back up there a bit." He rushed over and put his hand on my back "You ok?" his concern evident. I put my hand up and nodded my head to indicate that I was ok.

"Yee (hack) ah (hack hack). I (hack) think I'll live." _Could I be a bigger dork?_

I walked two steps away from his burning hand on my back, as he turned to the front of the car. He waved his arm over the engine a few times to clear what was left of the smoke, and then bent over to see what he could see. My eyes immediately flew to his backside. _Hmmm. Nice._ Visions of my hands sliding gingerly over the perfectly-shaped . . . Yes, I was an ass girl. _Criminy, Catherine. Just because the male admirers weren't breaking down your door didn't mean you had to go all Technicolor pornovision._

"Looks like you've got some trouble here. Radiator possibly, but something tells me it might be more than that. Do you know if they checked the oil before you left the car rental?"

"Uh, no clue. I would assume so – since it's a rental. Don't they do all that stuff before they rent you the car?" _Geez, I was definitely a girl._

He laughed, took his head out of my engine, and proceeded to slam the hood. "Well, one would hope so, but by the looks of it, this time they didn't." In one movement, he glanced at his watch, leaned back on the hood of the car, and looked at me.

"Figures." I wrapped my arms around me and looked down at the gravel at my feet. Could my life get any more pathetic? I couldn't even take a road trip with out car-engine drama. I felt his eyes on me, and my peripheral vision told me they were. Again with the weird sensations, but this time I think it was like butterflies in the pit of my stomach. No, more like bats. The just-disturbed-from-their-perch-in-a-very-old-cave kind.

He did that head-nod thing toward me that all guys do as some caveman era way of saying hey without the word, as he asked, "Where ya headed?" I didn't even get the chance to reply, when he suddenly set-off back towards his squad car. Something told me he was as uncomfortable looking at me as I was him. I slowly followed, my arms still caging the fluttering in my stomach.

"Forks, to a place called Kalaloch Lodge. I'm staying there for a few weeks." _Maybe longer._ _To find myself,_ although I didn't mention that part.

"Really?" He spun around and seemed genuinely pleased. "That's convenient. It's just right up the road. I hear that's a nice place. Never stayed there myself, but I've been in the place. There's a beautiful view of the water, and the sunsets . . .

". . . are amazing!" we both said at the same time. Our simultaneously laughter cut the tension, at least _my_ tension, and the bats became manageable butterflies. Again he made the turn and walked toward his car.

"Do you have a side job, Chief Swan, of writing copy for their website?" I joked.

"Um, no," he stated bluntly. I laughed again. His gruffness was indeed charming.

He reached into his car and grabbed a radio "Tell you what, I'll take you up to the lodge, and put in a call to get your car towed to the local mechanic. You can call the rental place and see if they can get you another car out here. And please, call me Charlie."

CharliePOV

_Shit._

I was minding my own business, driving back from a law enforcement conference in Seattle, when there she was on the side of the road. It's not like I _couldn't_ stop. A cop not stopping for a stranded car, a stranded _female_, on the side of the road? _Right._

She was in trouble, and I knew by the decidedly baffled, but undeniably cute way she was staring at the hood of her car and biting on her finger, as I parked behind her. Cute because I knew she didn't have a clue, and so much smoke was billowing out that for a fraction of second I thought the whole thing would go up.

And she was cute. _No, not cute._ Cute was a word reserved for those under 16. _Attractive? Yes._ Long, amber brown curls with a touch of gold highlights that made me just want to touch them, run my hands through them. Her eyes a shade blue like just off the coast right after a storm hits. Soft pale skin, with just the hint of life's journey around her eyes. Pale that would rival the Cullens, no doubt, but in a strangely appealing way. She was definitely Irish and definitely not older than me. She had an iPhone and laptop on the front seat. I didn't know anyone my age that owned either of those – or who brought them on vacation. Downright endearing in her lack of knowledge of cars, although she knew how to get the hood up. _Did I just say _endearing_?_

But there was something else about her. It was a calm yet also unsettling feeling. I thought maybe I'd seen her before, but that couldn't be because she said she wasn't from around here.

She sat mere feet from me now, staring out the window. I wasn't much of a conversationalist to begin with, but the inside of my head was shaping up to be a shit-storm.

My life was complicated enough, what with Bella, Edward, the Cullens, Jake, some of the kids on the Rez. Sue had clued me in on some things. I couldn't really deny any of it anymore, although I'd yet to wrap my head around it. In the back of my mind, realizing that my daughter, her husband, his family, AND my granddaughter were. . . well, something. I didn't necessary want to accept it, and Bella and I NEVER discussed it. My need-to-know basis was a comfortable place for me, like my chair and my remote. And Jake, well I couldn't very well deny what he'd just gone and _showed_ me. I shuddered. Can't deny anything when it smack-dabbed morphs right in front of your face.

Sue. For crying out loud, Sue and I had just ended it not a couple of months ago. I shifted in my seat. We'd just decided it wasn't working, it just wasn't there for us. A decent break-up compared to Renee. Sue and I had just decided to be friends and then, for the last month, friends with benefits. But all of a sudden she'd told me she was done with that. I wondered if she had found someone else. She never gave any indication, but if there was, I'd soon find out. Either Billy would spill the beans, or I'd see her eventually with the guy around La Push.

Like a bucket of ice water to my head, she suddenly spoke. "So, have you lived in Forks all of your life?"

I kept my eyes on the road, not because I had to, but because it scared me to look at her. "Yep. Grew up here, married here, had a daughter here, got divorced here." I just barfed up my life story to her. _Terrific._

"Oh, you were married? How old is your daughter? Does she live around here too?" I wonder if she ever considered a future in private investigation.

"Well, my daughter is, uh, nineteen and lives with her husband, their daughter, and his family on the outskirts of Forks." _WHY DID I JUST TELL HER THAT?_

"Nineteen? And she's married? Wow, that's unusual. But her being so close must be convenient for you, I suppose. I bet you see them all the time, then." She looked down into her lap then, and I sensed a change in her mood. Sadness.

"Yeah, it's convenient." _Convenient, nervewracking, frustrating, terrifying._ "What about you? Married? Divorced? Kids? Pets?" She sniffed a half-laugh and looked up at me. It was all I could do to remember one of us had to keep our eyes on the road.

Before I had to the chance to look away, she countered, "Am I asking too many questions?"

"No, no, not at all. But you haven't answered mine." I wanted to know. I needed to know. She wasn't getting out of the car until I did.

"Nope, nope, nope, and yes – 2 cats."

"You've never been married? Really? No kids? How'd you get so lucky?" I thought I'd pulled off the joke, but the pause and the faint sigh made me think otherwise.

"Oh, I don't know. Prince Charming is, after all, just a fairytale." Uh-oh. I'd hit a nerve. Redirect.

"So what brings you to Forks? It's not like we're a vacation destination."

"I was in Seattle on business, and just decided to see what's out here. I've never been to Washington before, so I googled around until I spotted Forks. I found the lodge." She paused contemplating something. "It sounded . . . peaceful. I needed to get away, ya know?" I nodded if only to keep her talking. "I mapquested my way from Seattle, and, well, here I am." She turned her gaze back out the window as if to end the discussion.

"What business are you in?" was the only thing I could think of to attempt to bring her back.

"Sales."

"What do you sell?"

"College textbooks."

It was like a tennis match. "Textbooks? How do you sell textbooks? Don't they have bookstores for that?" I hope I didn't sound too stupid.

She glanced back at me with a half smile. "I meet with professors on behalf of the publisher. The professors make a decision on what book to use for their course. Then they tell the bookstores which books to stock for the students to come in to buy. It sounds more glamorous than it is, although I do get to travel a lot and see the country. I do love going to new places and getting all touristy after the work is finished."

Glamorous? Not the word I would have used. Actually it sounded like a pain in the ass.

I made the turn into the lodge, and pulled up to the front of the main building where the lobby was. I wasn't sure where she was staying since there was the main lodge, the cabins, and then the other hotel that was off a ways and secluded.

She got out of the car so fast there was no time for me to be a gentleman, so I went to the trunk to get out her bags. "Let me help you inside with these." A part of me wanted to prolong our conversation, as much as it were.

"No, that's really ok. I can get them from here." She offered her hand to shake mine. "Thanks so much, Chief Swan. I'm not sure what I would've done if you hadn't come along."

I took her hand and shook it, but I couldn't let go. I liked her handshake; it was a good one - for a woman. "Oh, no problem. That's what I get a paycheck for – saving damsels in distress." _I. Am. An. Idiot. _"And please, it's Charlie."

"Yes. Charlie." She smiled. "Well maybe we'll run into each other again while I'm here. I plan on venturing into town a few of the days. Any suggestions on where I might go? Any good restaurants?"

_Ah, an opening_. "As a matter of fact, there's absolutely nothing. But I do have a favorite diner. It's not much, but it's good food and good people. It's my lifeblood actually. Maybe . . . maybe we could meet up for lunch one of the days you're in town? Or dinner even if your day's jam-packed?" _Shut-up, Swan._ But I took heart at the fact that her hand was still in mine, even though we'd quit the shaking.

"Uh, yes. Yes, that'd be nice."

"Ok then, I'll be in touch." She pulled her hand away then, and I walked back into my car. I chanced a glance out the rearview mirror and she was still standing there, looking at what I took to be the back of my head. Then her gaze caught mine in the mirror and as quickly as it did, she looked away even quicker, gathered up her bags, and began to walk into the main doors. It took all I had to drive away.

OtherPOV

So close to the final objective. Oblivious humans. Although she had managed to save herself. Or rather, a member of law enforcement had happened upon her just at the moment of my greatest triumph. I would be heralded once this mission was accomplished – the Oracle had presented it to Aro, and subsequently to me, the benefits to my status amongst the guard if I were to bring about the fruition of this most important task. In fact, I would no longer suffer the bonds of mere servitude, but join the immediate ranks at Aro's side. My success wasn't even in question, as the Oracle had foretold both the eventual outcome and my reward. It was only a matter of time.

But I relished the hunt, the journey, if you will. I was outside the walls of relative captivity and basking in the adventure of traveling half way around the world. I hadn't ventured out of Italy since the 18th century, when I was still human. The new world was just that to me. I intended to savor this opportunity, and memorize the sights, sounds, and lessons I learned. For after I was "promoted", there was no telling what my next mission would be, or even if there would be another.

But most of all, I would take utmost pleasure in the human I was ordered to kill.

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A/N:

Thanks for reading. While you're still here, please let me know what you thought. Although I do have thick skin, this is my first fanfic, so please be gentle. ;)

If you're as gaga as I am over Twilight fanfic, please check out my pal Alexis Danaan's "A Place to Call Home". You won't be sorry.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, op 18: Adagio Sostenuto

CharliePOV

I pulled back out onto the 101, hoping the drive back to the station would be uneventful. I'd driven this road so many times, there was nothing to prevent me from thinking about her. Catherine O'Hara. _Miss_ Catherine O'Hara. I couldn't help but replay the last hour or so, especially when my arms were around her. I _had_ to grab her to get her out of the way; that car was racing like a bat out of hell. I knew she didn't realize just how far she had backed up onto the road. I would've taken off after him if she hadn't been in such a predicament, but I couldn't just leave her to go after a speeder. Nope. Couldn't leave a stranded, beautiful, intriguing woman on the side of the road, all alone, with a smoking rental car.

Never been married. No kids. What was the likelihood of that _this_ day and age? She hadn't seemed to care much for the joke, and thinking back, I was positive about it. I felt a tug of regret in my gut. Her line about Prince Charming being just a fairytale . . . a man, or men, must have hurt her bad, I would guess. At least we had something in common. For some reason, her answer concerned me even more the longer I thought about it. No woman should hurt like what I saw on her face - even if it was for only a fraction of second. I felt compelled to find out what had happened. _But would she want to tell me? Would I want to tell her about Renee and me if she asked?_ _Hmmm, food for thought._

Renee sure had cut me to the quick when she left. I knew she wasn't cut out for life in Forks, but I thought what we had, especially after we had our daughter, that it would change her. Bella was the light of both our lives. I thought she would help give Renee stability. A purpose. But neither I nor Bella could curb her need for excitement, her need to get out of Forks. I knew now what I didn't know then - my love wasn't enough. When she took Bella, they both took my heart with them.

Then there was Sue. When Harry died, well, I was just trying to help her out. We ended up having things in common, _lots_ of things; things I couldn't really talk to anyone else about - at least, not if I didn't want to be committed. For awhile there, I thought there might be something. Yeah, we had been compatible in other ways, too, and she made me feel things I hadn't felt in a long, long time. Unfortunately, there was never any real spark, any real whatever-that-something is. I knew that now.

I imagined Catherine in my arms again. I liked the way she'd felt. I liked the way it had made _me_ feel, especially when she looked at me with those big blue eyes; somewhere between hero and horny. I wondered what it would be like to reach up and caress her cheek, to clutch the side of her head, bend it back, and bring my lips to hers . . . I shook my head to clear the image and straightened up in my seat. What the _hell_ was I thinking? I was no Prince Charming, that's for sure. What woman wants to be with a cop nowadays?

_Whoa there, champ._ _You haven't even been on a date yet. Heck, you haven't even really asked her on a date. That whole, "Hey, let's do lunch or dinner or something" wasn't really your best moment. Well heck, I've been out of the game for awhile, haven't I? Shit, I didn't even know how to talk to my own daughter. How was I going to get up the stones to ask this woman out?_ This woman, Catherine, who I'd just met on the side of the road . . . Sounded like a movie for that girly-channel. Lifetime. Yeah, a Lifetime movie-of-the-week. Lifetime, my ass.

_Wait, how was I going to contact her? I didn't get her phone number. Dammit._

I arrived at the station in a shittier mood than usual. Jones and Larson, two of my detectives, were at their desks, just itchin' to raz me about the conference. They thought I was just getting a free trip out of work and a couple nights bunk in a swanky hotel. It's not like the crime in Forks was so overwhelming that we needed to learn what the big cities were doing. Still, I felt it was important to stay on top of it. You never knew who you would meet at one of them, or when something I learned from one of these things might come in handy. Or who you would meet on the way _home_ from one of them. . .

"Hey, Chief, how was the conference? Learn any new maneuvers? Any new detecting techniques?" Jones baited me.

"Yeah, did they serve donuts for breakfast?" Larson couldn't help himself.

If I were smart, I'd fire them on the spot. It was obvious that their detective skills were sub-par, or they would've noticed my foul mood as I walked in the door.

"If either of you says another word to me, you're fired." I kept walking.

"But Chief . . ." Jones was too stupid to shut-up.

"You're fuckin' fired, Jones," I grouchily snarled as I slammed the door of my office.

I hung my coat on the hook behind the door and turned to survey my desk. Man, I hated paperwork. Being gone for a week didn't help matters. I walked over and collapsed into my chair. I was going to have to dive right in to this or drown. I sat back for a moment and let my gaze travel out the window. It was a moonless night. Dark. A night for crime.

I imagined her looking out at the same starless sky, and wondered what she was thinking, what she was doing at this exact moment. Was she thinking of me? If she were, what was she thinking? Would she give me a chance? Did I _want_ that chance? Yes. I _thought_ I did, anyway. I sure as hell knew she wouldn't call me. I could tell the type of woman she was. I would have to make the first move.

I needed to call the lodge. Ah crap, they didn't have phones in the cabins - that theft there a few years back reminded me of that. Maybe they had her cell phone number on some paperwork or something. Official police business. Or she left something in my car and I wanted to return it. Yeah. Would anyone fire me for using my position to obtain information . . . about a woman? Not if I didn't tell anybody. I turned back around, the receiver of my phone in my hand, when Jones walked in. "Chief, we've got a call of a tripped alarm over at the Thrifty Mart. You wanna come?"

"I just fired you, remember?"

I got up, grabbed my coat, and followed him. My super-sleuthing to get a phone number would have to wait. Meanwhile, I'd make Jones do the shit-work on this job.

CathPOV

I checked in and got the key to my cabin, which was supposed to be right on the water. I'd asked for a single-person room with a view when I made the reservation. I'd actually shaped the L with my thumb and index finger and put it to my own forehead as the nice reservation lady took my information. There were no phones and no TVs, so I had brought a few books and some movies on my laptop. I hadn't planned on making new friends. Walking and hiking led my list of things to do, if only to make me so exhausted I would sleep. Saying I was a light sleeper was like saying _Gone With the Wind_ was just a book, so I hoped that all the things that were likely to go bump in the night would just bump near another cabin.

Even through the window of the lodge, the twilight sky was a tapestry of purple, orange, and blue satin ribbons as the sun slowly faded to the edge of the ocean. It was so beautiful, I told the gal at the desk I would just walk to my cabin if she could point me in the right direction. I gave her the short version of the rotten luck with my rental car, purposely leaving out the identity of my savior. She reassured me that the walk wasn't too far, and that she would drive my luggage out to me if I didn't need anything right away. She handed me a map of the property, circled my cabin on it, and off I went on my first adventure. Well, actually my second, if I counted my brush with death and the subsequent rescue by Police Chief Charlie Swan.

I grabbed my backpack with my essentials and laptop, and walked out of the main lodge. As hard as I tried to focus on the beautiful view around me, my mind kept betraying me with fleeting images of Charlie. If I replayed the whole ordeal, I was stupid to think there was even a spark of interest there. Although he said he'd like to meet for lunch, or even dinner, in Forks, he was probably just being nice. Seriously, what was I thinking? He probably wouldn't even call. Besides, it's not like he could just pick up the phone and dial me directly. He hadn't asked for my cell number, and I hadn't offered, although I guess he could just call the lodge. Being the police chief, and assuming above average persuasive skills, they'd just probably give him my cabin number.

_Oh, shut the eff up, O'Hara, and stop your overactive imagination. The last time you had a serious relationship, Clinton was in the White House. Should've been a sign . . ._

I finally looked up, out towards the water, and took a deep breath of sea air. I felt better already. No work, no distractions, just complete solitude.

I reached what would be my humble abode for the next few weeks, went inside, and dropped my backpack. I spun back around to take in the view from my patio doors. It was everything I had hoped for and more. A quaint split-rail fence and about fifty feet of grass and sand separated me from the waves crashing onto miles of beach, a sound that I just knew would be like my own personal lullaby. _Ahhh._ The cabin itself was cozy - a small kitchen with a coffee maker, a comfy couch and chair with rustic wood frames and cushy pillows, a big bed all for me, and a cute little bathroom. There was a clock, but I knew I wouldn't be setting any alarm. Perfect.

The sight of the coffee maker and no coffee made me realize I needed to call the rental company in order to get another car to go into town for provisions - coffee being at the top of the list. While major meals would be eaten elsewhere - I had absolutely NO intention of cooking - snacks and cereal seemed like good ideas.

As I was on the phone with the rental company, my luggage arrived. I thanked the girl and gave her a healthy tip. Ten minutes later, I was assured of another rental arriving first thing in the morning.

After I unpacked and took a much needed shower, I realized I had nothing to do. _Cripes, when in the last, oh ten years could I say that? What does one do when there's nothing to do?_ Well, I had come out here to think, and there was no time like the present, so I took my iPhone, grabbed a protein bar out of my bag, and went out to a lounge chair that had my name on it. I'd brought the iPhone not for its communication abilities, but because it was a cornucopia of musical genius, or at least, I thought it was. Everything from classic rock, 80s alternative, mushy romantic of any decade, classical, to current. Rachmaninoff seemed to be calling to me, so the "Piano Concerto #2 in C Minor" it was.

The first thing I noticed was just how dark it seemed. The meaning of the words "pitch black" became crystal clear. Cabins further down from me had lights on, but the two on either side of mine didn't. It gave me an eerie feeling. I thought maybe I should add some sort of lantern to my list of things to buy in town.

Suddenly I felt a chill. I shivered, but not because I was cold. I glanced around, but of course I couldn't see a damn thing. Freaking myself out on the first night in a secluded cabin was definitely not a good idea. I wondered if wild animals walked around on the property. Probably, since they were so close to the forest. It wasn't the thought of any animal that was making prickly sensations on the back of my neck, though. It was the feeling that someone was watching me.

I grabbed my iPhone, hightailed it back into the cabin, and made sure all the doors and windows were locked. So much for peaceful contemplation.

OtherPOV

The forest rendered sufficient coverage, but I had selected a delightful tree branch from which to scope my prey. It was a precarious dance she and I engaged in, unbeknownst to her. My willingness to forego immediate execution battled against my burning desire to taste her. I _wanted_ to watch her, study her. I needed to understand why this one, seemingly inconsequential human compelled the most supreme authority in my world to send me to eliminate her. What had she done? What would she do? I hadn't been privy to the events leading up to her death, just my glorious hand in it. Of course, I couldn't hold out too long. Trying Aro's patience would not ameliorate my ascension into the inner circle.

From as far as I was, I could hear her heartbeat quicken, I'd become so attuned to this siren call of hers. As if spurred by something in the blackness, she hastened indoors, moving about to fasten every lock on every possible entrance. _As if locked doors and windows would prevent my access. No, my dear._ Alas, I needed to feed, a subsistence of repulsive animal blood in order to maintain my inconspicuous amber-colored eyes. A small sacrifice for such illustrious ends. So she would live . . . until tomorrow.

5


	3. Chapter 3

Another short one for all of you.

Oh, and did anyone figure out the significance of the two pieces of music I picked For Chs 1 & 2? If you did, please let me know in a review. There is a reason for them both, and their relationship to pop music. There _is _a method to my madness! I'll let you know in a later chapter . . .

Chapter 3

Elgar: Variations On an Original Theme, Op. 36 "Enigma": 9. Nimrod: Adagio

CathPOV

I'd finally drifted to sleep somewhere around midnight. Between my overactive imagination and the time change, I was amazed that I'd even slept at all. It was already eight o'clock, and I realized I had no coffee. _Ugh._ I checked my phone to see if there were any calls. Talk about wishful thinking.

I stepped out the patio doors to take a look around in the light. There was a cute gazebo just down the way, and I felt a short melancholy breath escape me. What a romantic place, right on the beach, overlooking the ocean - a place to stop while on a walk with the man you loved . . . I imagined a tall, muscular man, with bushy brown hair that my fingers happened to be lost in, with soft, chocolaty brown eyes, his strong arms around my waist, his lips devouring mine. . . _Shit! Where the hell had that come from?_

I suddenly remembered the weird feeling the night before. I studied up and down the beach and at the layout of the cabins near to me. _Geez, Catherine, it's a good thing the movies you brought weren't a collection of slasher flicks or thrillers._ I rolled my eyes and laughed to myself. I wondered if Charlie ever moonlighted as a security guard . . .

_Dammit._ I had to stop thinking about Charlie. Hell, I was like a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl. Soon, I'd start humming some stupid love song . . . the opening bars of "When I Think of You" by Janet Jackson ran through my head. _I was here for me, remember? Me, me, me._ Time away, on my own, to regroup. Thinking about Charlie? . . . Pointless.

I decided it was best to get moving. I put my iPod on shuffle, and let my finger touch a song without looking. "Whatta Man" from En Vogue belted out as I climbed into the shower. _A sign? Right._ That was _so_ high school. Okay, well, to this day, I had this . . . _thing_ about music. If a good song came on the radio as I was thinking about a guy, or a situation, or whatever, it was a sign. A good sign. But there was one _bad_ luck song - "Drive" by The Cars. That song had tormented my youth, especially when it played every five seconds on every station the year it came out. I don't know why. I don't remember the point at which it became _the bad luck song_. After it did, though, it was usually the harbinger of a bad grade, a fight or break-up, or some other dastardly deed. Nowadays, I listened to it on purpose. I figured things couldn't get much worse.

No one in town knew me, so I left my hair down, decided on minimal makeup, and threw on some jeans and my favorite Zeppelin t-shirt. With overcast skies and possible rain forecasted, I grabbed my jacket, umbrella, purse, and phone, and headed out the door, locking it behind me. As I turned the corner of the cabin, I saw what I assumed to be my new rental car. _Phew._

I found my way back onto the 101 and headed north toward Forks. I took in all of the flora and fauna of the drive, amazed at the tall trees, and just how _green _everything was. It wasn't that there wasn't green in the suburbs of Chicago, but the trees definitely didn't get as tall. I was absolutely giddy with the thought of my hiking tour tomorrow. Maybe I'd find time to see the world's largest Western Red Cedar. Somewhere I'd read it was just thirteen miles away.

I reached Forks just as my stomach rumbled. Not a good idea to get groceries on an empty stomach. There had to be somewhere around here to get breakfast. I drove a little further, and as if the gods themselves smiled on me, I spotted a coffee shop. It reminded me of a place my Dad would've loved. For him, the greasier the better. At this point, swill masquerading as coffee would suffice for me, too.

There was a parking lot just off to the side of the place, so I pulled in and parked. I opened my door, had one foot and my body half way out, when I realized someone was standing in front of me. I jumped two feet backwards, smacking my shoulder blades into the door frame.

"Uh, hi there, damsel. Didn't mean to startle you." It was Charlie.

Composing myself, I stepped out again, trying to close the door, but found myself too close for my own comfort. I took a step back, and finally found the courage to look him in the eye. "What, no crime in fair Forks this morning, so you've taken to tailing innocent visitors?" I asked, mostly with humor, but with a dash of snarkiness. He looked uncomfortable.

"What? Ha, no. I was going into the station when I spotted you. At least, I _thought_ it was you. So I, er, yeah, I followed you here, but only that far." He was really nervous now, and I secretly giggled.

"I see." I paused momentarily, pretending to be miffed. "Well, better a policeman stalking me that some, um, actual stalker."

I smiled to try to let him off the hook. I noticed he was looking rather dashing again in his uniform. I looked down at the ground to try and hide the heat that was creeping up into to my cheeks. _There really _was _something about a man in uniform. . ._

"So, what brings you into town?" he asked innocently as he leaned casually against the side of my car.

"Well, originally I was supposed to be picking up some groceries, but my stomach overruled and now I'm looking for breakfast. How's that coffee shop just on the corner?"

"Good enough for a girl who's probably starving." He ducked his head in this aw-shucks kind of maneuver. "Would you mind some company?"

"Aren't you on duty, sir?" I loved to tease.

"Yeah, but I'm the Chief. Do you think they'd fall for a surprise inspection?"

I laughed again. _I'd fall for anything if he were pushing it._ "I really couldn't tell you, being just a tourist, but I can't wait to find out."

I started towards the coffee shop, and Charlie fell in step beside me. We walked the short distance in silence, which was a relief. My heart was beating so fast, and my nerves were fried. _What the hell were we going to talk about? The weather?_

_Wait, did that really just happen? He just "spotted" me?_ My heart started to race as I reached panic mode. I just didn't _do_ breakfast with men I hardly knew. Hell, I don't remember _ever_ having breakfast, outside of my kitchen or his, with a man who wasn't a relative.

He opened the door for me and followed me in. "Hey, Chief Swan! Should I get you the usual?" My jumbled thoughts were broken by the greeting from the woman behind the counter.

I stopped midway into the small waiting area and turned back to him, guilt all over his face. "The usual?" I questioned.

"Well, I sometimes come here for breakfast, since it's right on the way. Don't tell the diner, though, ok?" Charlie smiled as he said it, but he still looked like he'd been caught red-handed. _Oh, the tangled web we weave._

"Your secret's safe with me, Chief." I gave him a knowing grin as I stowed away the fact for future blackmail potential.

We sat down in a cozy booth. Well, cozy if I'd been alone. Now I had to carry on a conversation with the handsome Police Chief, _and_ figure out how to attractively eat my breakfast - _at the same time_. Impossible if I only had to do one at a time. Insurmountable together.

CharliePOV

I couldn't believe my luck. I knew I planned on spending part of the morning tracking the fair Miss Catherine O'Hara, using my impressive investigative skills to find out her phone number. I felt a little guilty about that. _Man, if Jones or Larson found out . . ._

And then I saw her. She drove right through the intersection in front of me. I waited for the light to turn and followed a ways behind her, but I already knew it was her. I hung back to see where she was going, and lady luck smiled on me as she pulled into the parking lot just off the street. She didn't have a clue about me, and I was at her door before she got out of the car.

The Zeppelin shirt caught my attention, not to mention what was underneath it. Her jacket yesterday had concealed everything. Now, I saw what I could only describe as softness and strength. Pliable in all of the right places, but with a dash of muscle that made me think she knew how to throw a punch. My mind wandered to what was underneath that shirt, and what it would be like to pull it over her head and off her. _Jesus, Swan!_ I yanked my eyes away, bringing them back to hers before she noticed. _Hopefully _before she noticed. I wondered how many men had been caught staring. Something about that thought pissed me off.

Now, here we were, sitting across from each other as she ate scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, and I ate a stack of pancakes and a plateful of sausage. The girl was obviously as hungry as I was, but something made her push her food around on her plate for awhile.

"So, how long are you here for?" I finally stopped chewing long enough to get a question out.

"Um, at least tow weeks, I'm not sure. It just depends on how things go." She didn't look up, and seemed lost in thought about something.

"Do you have anything planned? Any adventures? There's a lot to do and see around here if you've never been here." Subtle, but the intention of my question felt like a noose over my head.

"Well, tomorrow I'm going on a hike around the lodge. There are a few great trails that I'd like to conquer. After that, I don't know yet. I'm kinda taking it as it comes." Again, with the matter-of-fact answer.

"You're going by yourself?" I could never really shelve the cop in me.

"Yeah." Although she partly laughed, I could tell my question didn't sit well. "Why?"

_Because I'd like to go with you. Because I'd like to push my body up to yours against one of those big, tall cedars and . . ._

"Oh, I don't know. The woods around here are big and dark. People have been known to get lost in them." I hurriedly added, "I'm sure you won't. But I'm just saying, you know, be careful." The idea of her walking around alone was starting to get to me. That, or the image I'd just had of the two of us.

She looked me straight in the eye. "I'll be just _fine_, Chief Swan. I'm a big girl, and I've been taking care of myself for a _long_ time. Besides, I think I can handle reading a map. I got here, didn't I?" As her forked stabbed into her eggs, I suddenly felt like some of that force was meant for the side of my head.

I reached across the table for her hand then, the one without the fork, that was resting next to her plate. I don't know why I did it. It wasn't like me just to reach out and touch a woman I'd just met. Something like a spark made the hair on my arm stand up as I noticed how small it was, and . . . soft. For a brief second, she stared at it, and then pulled away, pretending the need to use the napkin on her lap, and leaving her hand down when she finished. _Nice, Swan._

"Catherine, look. I'm not trying to upset you, I just . . . well, it's the cop in me. Sorry." I tried to forget the way her hand felt in mine, and went back to eating my pancakes.

"Chief, you got something against women being able to take care of themselves? Being a _cop_ and all?" Her right eyebrow lifted as she accused me. I didn't miss the sarcastic stress on the word cop, nor the fact that twice now she had called me Chief instead of Charlie.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I was . . . confused. Really.

Her eyebrow went back, but the crease in her forward told me everything I needed to know about her mood swing. "Well, I've known only one cop in my life, my uncle, and I don't much appreciate his views on women." She concentrated fully on her plate now.

"You have an uncle who's a cop?"

"Was. Retired. Chicago. And divorced."

"I see. And you think all cops are like your Chicago cop uncle."

"Yeah, pretty much. Some are worse."

I had finished my breakfast, and just sat staring at her. She had a sting to her, I'll give her that. I didn't know what to say, how to change the course of the conversation. I was a passenger on a runaway train, and it was about to derail. I watched her take a last bite of her toast and finish her coffee.

"Well, Chief Swan, this has been a stimulating conversation, to say the least. Thank you so much for taking time out of your workday to have breakfast with me, but I really must be going." She grabbed her wallet out of her purse.

"No, this is on me."

"No, that's quite alright." She dropped some bills on the table. "I wouldn't want to be accused next of taking a bribe." With that, she was up and out the door.

"Catherine, wait. I . . ." but she was already gone. _What the hell just happened?_

No, she wasn't going to get away that easy. I put another $10 on the table. Yeah, now _that_ was a bribe. Maybe Trina at the counter would keep her mouth shut about what she had undoubtedly just seen. If I could be so lucky. By noon, half the town would know, including the station.

I ran out the door and toward her parked car just in time to see her turning south. I knew where she was going, and I knew what store she would end up in. Reason kept me from following her. She needed time to cool off, and so did I. _Opinionated? Yes. Stubborn? Obviously so. Wrong about her assumptions? Shit yeah._ Something told me there was a lot more to Miss Catherine O'Hara than met the eye, and the cop in me wanted to find out what. The cop . . . _and_ the man.

I walked a few steps more as I lost sight of her car. I kicked at the ground. Women. This is _exactly_ why I liked being a bachelor. None of the goofy shit. None of the mind games. _Alrighty, Miss Catherine O'Hara. Go on your way. I won't be following._

As I reached my squad car and got in, I knew I was lying to myself. I also knew that being at the station all day would be pure torture. Partially because I knew my entire department would have heard the gossip of this morning. Jones would start the pool - how long would Charlie last, how many times would he bitch at someone today, who would be the first to get his head cut off. But mostly because I knew that I would spend the day at my desk, in the shittiest mood ever, trying to figure out how to redeem myself in the eyes of Miss Catherine O'Hara.

OtherPOV

I placed myself indiscriminately in one of the aisles, with her in full view. She took an inordinate amount of time deciding on an assortment of fruit and vegetables. I noticed her displeasure in the mere way she deposited a melon back onto its heap. It nearly toppled the lot of them to the floor, but she was quick in catching the few that had escaped. I marveled at her reflexes, even for a human.

Her heartbeat was erratic, even though her outward countenance would give no mere human pause. I decided her disposition was a product of the meal she had just shared with that law enforcement officer. I'd observed both of them as they first met, and as they walked into the establishment. I watched her leave, running to her car. The man had done something to distress her. Good. She needed no other distractions, save for _me_. _I_ had so much more to learn from her.

I followed as she wandered aisle to aisle. None of the human provisions held any interest to _me_. Just her. I managed to single out her scent from every other human in the marketplace, for they held no fascination for me. I would follow her to the ends of the earth if need be. That is, if that's where she decided to go in the time she had left.

Chapter End Notes:

For all of you who are wondering, that little tidbit about music - good luck songs and bad luck songs - is a wee bit of my personal neurosis. And yes, Drive by The Cars really is a BAD LUCK SONG!

Once again, thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought. I live for reviews!

7


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing witty tonight, folks, other than to say trust me, it will get there.

But I do hope you enjoy . . .

Again, thanks to my talented beta Jenny Cullen, who just picked up the biggest grammar-goof of all in the last chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Khachaturian, Masquerade: Nocturne

Charlie POV

_"Chief, you got something against women being able to take care of themselves? Being a _cop_ and all?"_

_"What's that supposed to mean?" _

_"Well, I've known only one cop in my life, my uncle, and I don't much appreciate his views on women."_

_"You have an uncle who's a cop?"_

_"Was. Retired. Chicago. And divorced."_

_"I see. And you think all cops are like your Chicago cop uncle."_

_"Yeah, pretty much. Some are worse."_

_Women. Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em._ I returned to the station after my oh-so-enjoyable breakfast with Catherine. As I walked back to my office, I knew every eye was on me, but no one said a word. Okay, so maybe my department wasn't so stupid. To say they tip-toed around me the rest of the afternoon would be an insult to their feet. They were downright MIA. Other than a few knocks on my door for legitimate questions, they stayed clear.

I'll admit, I thought of going back out and driving around town for her. I knew I could find her because my gut told me she wouldn't stray too far from the 101. Hell, I even considered having one of the guys stop her and drag her ass back to me. That idea only lasted for about a half-a-second. I could just imagine her face as they brought her to my office. I chuckled as I imagined the crinkle in her forward or that eyebrow trick again. Yeah, that would piss her off even more. More like _beyond_ pissed, and she'd probably lock herself down to me forever.

Man, I only had two weeks, actually now twelve days to be exact, and that was if she stayed. _What if she just up and left? What if I'd really scared her off?_

I drove home, and the conversation played over and over in my head, aggravating me like an accidental ten minutes of "Dancing with the Stars". I couldn't figure out what I could have said differently; it took the turn for the worst so fast. Maybe if I were better with women, better at talking to them, hell, just _better_, I wouldn't be in this predicament.

I unlocked the front door, hung my coat on the hook, and removed my gun and gear. As I threw the freezer door open to see what gourmet specialty jumped out at me, I wondered if she cooked. She seemed like the type that might. Since Bella left, frozen meals, delivered pizzas, and basic slop had been the customary evening meal. That was, of course, when Sue wasn't cooking. Tonight, it would be a frozen pot pie for the first course, and a cold Vitamin R for the second. Or maybe the other way around. Beer wasn't a bad idea for the second and third course too . . . and dessert.

After watching the Mariners get trounced, I forced myself into bed, mostly staring at the ceiling. All I could think about was her impression of cops, and ultimately of me. I wasn't a jerk, at least I didn't _think_ I was, although my department, if asked, might say otherwise in light of the passed two days. _Hmmm - Chicago cop._ Her uncle must be a son-of-a-gun. I didn't want to think about the fact that he and I had more than being a cop in common. A neon sign flashed somewhere in the back of my head - Divorced and Alone, Divorced and Alone.

That's when I made up my mind. I'd drive out to her cabin tomorrow and just hang around until she came back. She'd said something about going hiking. _Yeah._ I'd slip away after lunch - check in and make my appearance at the station in the morning, then wait for her. _But what would I say?_ It didn't matter, I'd figure out something on the drive over. Oh, and I'd be damned if I left without her phone number this time.

CathPOV

_"Well, Chief Swan, this has been a stimulating conversation, to say the least. Thank you so much for taking time out of your workday to have breakfast with me, but I really must be going."_

_"No, this is on me."_

_"No, that's quite alright. I wouldn't want to be accused next of taking a bribe."_

_"Catherine, wait. I . . ."_

I rolled over and moaned into my pillow. The conversation replayed in my head over and over throughout rest of the day and most of the night. I hung around in town, hoping that I would happen upon Charlie so I could apologize. _I was such a bitch._ I thought maybe he might try to find me again, and so I walked from shop to shop, in and out, buying some things I needed, some I didn't. I found my lantern at the sporting goods store that was right across the street from the coffee shop. It had been my last stop of the day, and when glanced at the shop's front doors as I was walking to my car, I knew I had made a colossal mistake.

Images of his face as my words stung tormented my dreams. _Why had I reacted like that?_ I went back to staring at the ceiling. It had been that way most of the night, tossing and turning trying to find a position that would erase the memory. He probably thought I was nuts. I should have picked up on his concern for my safety. I should have rejoiced in it, if I had recognized it for what it was. But _no_. I had to get all femi-nazi on him. That cop bravado thing was so typical, touching that sensitive nerve that brought out the worst in me. Hell, he had called me "damsel", scaring the shit out of me, when he snuck up to me car. I wasn't a _damsel_ in distress, just a _little_ unlucky. My uncle wasn't really a _bad _guy; sometimes he was quite hilarious. He and strong, independent women just didn't mix. Being my usual stubborn and hotheaded self, I hadn't even given Charlie a chance to prove himself contradictory to the mold.

I reached for my phone on the bedside table to see the time. 7:30. So much for sleeping in. I got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make my coffee. _Should I try to call him?_ I could probably get the number to the station from the front desk. _Or just look it up online?_ No, I couldn't. I imagined the aloof way he'd respond when he found out it was me on the other end.

_"Charlie, it's Catherine."_

_"Yes."_

_"Charlie I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I . . ."_

_"Catherine, I really can't talk right now. Goodbye."_

Of course, I knew my imagination wasn't doing the make-believe conversation justice, but I figured it would be close enough to that. He'd probably tell me he'd call me back, then I'd sit around waiting for my phone to ring.

I took my coffee outside through the patio door. My standard bedtime attire of cut-off sweats and a t-shirt wouldn't give any neighbors a heart attack, even if they were up, which I doubted. The cool morning sea air broke through my anguish. Today was hiking day. Hiking, walking, whatever you wanted to call it. All I knew was that I was going to walk long and far, until I would most certainly collapse face first into my dinner tonight up at the lodge restaurant.

I went back in to have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, brush my teeth, and take a quick shower. I'd put on khaki cargos, a white Chicago White Sox tee, my Asics, and threw my hair in a messy ponytail. By 8:30, I was rarin' to go. I made sure my phone was charged, since I'd downloaded an app that was a compass. _So, I might get lost, eh, Charlie?_ I grabbed my backpack, a couple of bottles of water, a sandwich I'd made for lunch, and some snacks. I also decided to take one of my books, just in case I happened upon the beach somewhere. _Ooh, a blanket would be a good idea, too_. I looked around and didn't see anything I could use. Maybe I could buy one up at the gift shop.

I walked out the door, and took a baseline read of my compass just so I would get my bearings. As I walked the path up to the lodge, my adrenaline was pumping. Today would be a good day. I just knew it.

The girl at the desk gave me the hiking map and explained the layout and the trails to me. I wanted the one that went through the forest, explaining to her how the view would be so different that the walking trails I was used to back home. I bought a small blanket and put it in my pack. She wished me happy trails, and I thanked her and laughed.

I found my way around the property to the trail I wanted, put my earphones in, and turned up 'Hiking' mix. Of course it was just the right mix of songs, with just the right pace, the intention to keep me going until at least noon. I let the first song, "Let It Rock" blare, not really caring if I was destroying my auditory sense, as there was no one around me to bother.

The lush forest was nothing like I'd ever seen before. The canopy of trees stretched high above me, the ferns and foliage lined the path as I became lost in my thoughts. I had to accept the fact that I would never hear from Charlie again. Not unusual, just par for the course. Par for _my_ course.

_He didn't want _me_. No one ever did._

I thought about a myriad of issues those first few hours - my job, my family. I thought about a new job. _Was it really what I wanted? Yes._ Maybe that's where some of my wanderlust was coming from. I was just so bored with everything that was back in Chicago. I wondered, if I just disappeared, would anyone notice? I was pretty sure my family would, my mom especially. _I couldn't just leave them all, could I?_

I stopped, because a huge boulder was beckoning my ass to sit on it. My stomach was also telling me it was time for lunch. I took my sandwich and a water out my pack, and switched my music to something more peaceful. My 'Movie Themes' mix harkened out from amongst the other offerings, and the "End Credits" from _The English Patient_ began to play. Now there's a depressing movie. I read down the list of songs and the movies they came from, and noticed a rather terrifying similarity: themes from _Troy_, _Atonement_, _The English Patient_, _Wuthering Heights_, and _The Tudors_. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. One or both of them die. Geez. _Hey subconscious, thanks for the subtlety._

I put my water bottle back in my pack and decided to head back the way I came. It wasn't raining, and it looked like the sun was out, but the way the treetops converged, I couldn't really tell. I didn't have a pedometer, but the burn in my ass and thighs made me think I'd traveled at least six miles. If I started back the way I came, I should have some decent light to lay by the shore, read a few chapters, and let the waves soothe my soul.

I switched to "Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas, the tempo just right to get me going again, but the lyric started to mess with my head.

_You leave me when I'm at my worst __  
__Feeling as if I've been cursed __  
__Bitter cold within._

Story of my life . . .

"Hello."

_What the_. . .I flung the music out of my ears and stopped so fast, my feet slid on the path. A man was standing about eight feet in front of me.

"Uh, hi."

He had appeared out of nowhere, not that I had been paying attention. I couldn't see his face, as his hoodie was drawn up and around it. A definite red flag.

"Lovely day for a stroll, isn't it?"

The only part of his face that was really visible was his smile, and I decided instantly I didn't like it. It wasn't really . . . friendly.

"Yes." I took a step back as he took a step forward.

"Beautiful specimens, aren't they?"

As he said this, his head drew upward and around, seemingly admiring the trees. He took a long sniff of the air.

"Yes, they are."

I didn't like this guy. There was something about him.

"Tell me, why is a beautiful woman like yourself traversing this course unaccompanied?"

He took two more steps toward me, as I fought with my legs to cooperate. They felt like twenty-ton cinder blocks.

"I . . . I'm waiting for someone. He should be here shortly." _Dammit, Catherine, you have to do better than that._

"He went to, uh, go to the bathroom."

_Stupid._ I tried to figure out if I could make it past him. I wondered how long it would be before I saw anyone else on the trail. He didn't look very big, maybe only about my height. I think I could get around him if I faked him to the right and then went left . . .

"No. I don't believe he did."

"Yes, he's just over . . ."

He was a mere step in front of me before I finished my sentence. "No, you're traveling alone. Not very prudent. You never know who you might meet . . . in a place like this."

His hand reached out to caress my face, as I suddenly stopped breathing. I couldn't move. I should've jumped, but I didn't. His hand was so cold; the back of it slowly ran across my cheek, then down, sliding across my jaw, until it stopped on my throat. I wasn't sure if the shiver that ran through me was from fear or from feeling that an ice cube had just run over my skin.

He brought his face within inches of mine, his breath like an arctic wind, as he leaned in and whispered, "I'll be waiting for you."

Something snapped in me. _Oh, no, you won't_. Like a slap in the face, I suddenly regained my wits, and planted my knee right in his crotch. _OW! _Rock hard was _not_ a metaphor!

My legs actually listened to the command my head was giving, and I started running as fast I as they would go, feeling like the twenty-ton cinder blocks had been replaced by forty-ton ones. The knee I'd tried to plant in his nuts was killing me. I chanced a look back, and noticed he had yet to come after me. I kept running and running until I could hardly breathe. I reached the lodge, and headed down the path to my cabin, when I looked up.

Charlie was running towards me.

I hurled myself into his arms, and buried myself in them. "Oh, thank-k G-god!" My body shook like a 10.4 on the Richter scale, and I couldn't make it stop. Charlie's arms tightened . . .

Charlie was _here_ . . . My mind wrestled with the impossible coincidence. The cop in him would want an explanation, and everything that just happened would confirm his attitude yesterday morning. _What would I tell him?_

OtherPOV

Her rush to elude me was like poetry written just for me - the intuitive anxiety, the visceral fear, and ensuing breathlessness. She was as graceful as a gazelle, even with the knee she damaged on my nether regions. Silly human. I couldn't fault her, though, she knew naught of my stone-like body. However, a small tinge of regret bit at my innards that she had injured herself. I wanted her perfect when I conquered her, but heartened in the fact that she had a few more days to heal.

_She was magnificent._ Frightened of me, _yes, b_ut firm in her resolve to flee. The essence of her was like a veil encompassing me, as I brought my hand, the one that had grazed her skin, up to my nose and basked in the intoxication_. Ahhh._

_She was mesmerizing._ I wondered if my ultimate possession of her would be fraught with struggle or submission. I'd rather she fought those last moments than to just lie there in resignation of her fate - her underneath me, her hair strewn over the ground, arms pushing away, legs flailing. I smiled as the image sent vibrations through me; down and around like soft feathers coursing over my skin, yet also like the edges of newly sharpened blades. Sensations that had long been dormant now manifested themselves in the front of my breeches. Perhaps it would make the moment even more satisfying if I took both her body _and_ her blood. _Hmmm._ An intriguing idea, indeed. To have a human woman before my ascension to Aro's side . . . both scenarios equally fulfilling. Either way . . .

_She was mine._

I decided further observation of her was of absolute necessity, and followed her scent, staying off the path so as to not be noticed by other humans. Upon arriving at the edge of the forest, I suddenly halted at the sight in front of me as my unnecessary breath caught midway upon inhalation - the object of my desire collapsed in the arms of that law enforcement officer! Bloody fool!

He was becoming troublesome. _Oh, to end him now._

But no, Aro must be consulted first. Nothing would keep me from my mission, especially some insignificant male human.

* * *

**A/N:**

Thanks for reading and . . .well, only if you want to.

7


	5. Chapter 5

Our favorite cop's POV . . .

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Rachmaninoff, Morceaux de Fantaisie: Elegie

CharliePOV

I pulled up to a parking spot behind the cabin, fumbling somewhere between actually growing a pair, and making a monumental ass of myself. Inconspicuous and my squad car didn't go together, and my driving it out here was the _second _worst idea I'd had today. I knew I was asking for trouble. _Would she want to see me? Would she even talk to me?_

Leaving things as they had been yesterday just wasn't an option. My whole morning had been chock full of the bumbling words that might come pouring out of my mouth like the spit of a rabid dog. Worse yet, what _she_ might say to _me_. I ran over best-case scenarios, worst-case scenarios, but at about eleven a.m., I realized I just didn't have a clue what she would do.

As I left the station around lunchtime, I told Tracy, the receptionist, I'd be "driving around" for speeders if anyone was looking for me. I know she knew I was lying. By the time I reached the lodge, I was already second-guessing my will. There was no problem getting the info on which cabin was hers from the front desk. A badge and raw sex appeal usually did the trick.

Now, still glued to the seat of my squad car, I took a deep breath and swung open the door. Two steps out of the car, I stopped to think twice about what I was doing. Could I really pull this off? Did I give a shit? Did she_? Aw fuck, Swan, just get it over with. _I walked to her door and knocked. No answer. I knocked again. She wasn't back yet. _Damn, what to do._ I looked around and noticed the chair on her patio. _Would she think I was a goon for waiting for her?_ Probably, but I was here, and . . . well . . .

I'd been sitting there at least fifteen minutes when my radio chirped.

"Chief, you coming back to the station anytime soon?"

Larson, checking up on me. No, more like _spying_ on me.

"No, why?" I was annoyed.

"Uh, are you close? I just have some paperwork for you to sign-off on."

"Larson, cut the crap. You radioed me to find out where I am, didn't you?"

"Uh, no, sir. I was just going to head out and thought I'd stick around if you were coming back. I'll just, uh, leave it on your desk."

"I'll sign it tonight, and you'll have it first thing tomorrow, 10-4."

I signed off, not wanting to know what my department thought. It was obvious they were beginning to talk. Larson must've picked the short straw to radio me.

"Yes, sir. 10-4."

As Larson signed off, I glanced to my right and saw someone running down the path to the cabins - a woman. Instinct made me stand up as I strained to see . . . there was something familiar . . . _Catherine!_ Holy shit, she was moving. It was my fastest sprint in at least ten years to get to her, as her body came careening into my arms when she realized it was me.

"Oh, thank-k G-God."

Every inch of her was shaking, like she'd been locked in a cooler, even with my arms around her.

"Catherine! Are you alright? What happened?"

She squeezed me tighter. I knew I wasn't going to like her explanation.

"J-just give me a m-minute."

I took her pack, wrapped my arms around her tighter, and led her back towards her cabin. She limped noticeably, so I did what I could to try and support her and what seemed like a bum knee.

We'd reached the door, when she said breathlessly, "The key . . . it's in the . . . front pocket."

My hand fished for the key, opened the door, and gently pushed her through. Leading her over to the couch, she sat down as I went to the fridge to get her some water and ice in a towel.

"W-wow," she finally said. "Okay, so I haven't b-been that scared in quite awhile."

They way she said it, I wasn't sure if she was trying to relax me or her. I sat down next to her, handing her the water as she took a swig. The ice was still in my hand. I felt funny about reaching across her to put it where it needed to be, but she solved that problem by taking it and gingerly putting it on her knee herself.

"Th-thanks."

She took a deep breath to still the shakes and to regain control of her breathing.

"Catherine, what the hell happened? I . . ."

She didn't let me finish. She laughed out loud, put the ice on the coffee table, and limped over to the patio door. She didn't fool me, I knew the act - trying to seem okay when she was actually terrified, but her walking away from me was like a pin-prick of rejection into the middle of my chest.

"I, uh, ran into a very scary guy. Well, not quite ran into him. He just sort-of appeared out of nowhere." She paused to take another drink of water.

"What? A guy? Where? What do you mean he just-sort-of-appeared-out-of-nowhere?"

"Yeah. I had my earphones in, and the next thing I knew, he was standing in front of me."

"What did he look like?"

"He had a navy blue hoodie and jeans on. The hood was pulled over his face, and it was kind of dark, so I couldn't see his features well."

"What did he say?"

I knew immediately it was the wrong question to ask. Her hands cupped her cheeks as the trembling started again. I bounded off the couch, my hands going to her shoulders, but she shrugged out of them and limped over to the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around her middle, in what I assumed was a way to steady herself, somewhere between pissed and petrified.

"He . . . he just t-talked to me at first. The weather - said what a beautiful day it was, asked if I was enjoying my walk. Stupid stuff. Trying to stall me. I _knew_ he was blocking my way on purpose. And yet, as he talked, he came . . . closer." Her words were matter-of-fact, but she wasn't fooling me anymore.

"What did you do?"

"I kept backing away. I was trying to gauge how fast he would be, how _fast_ _I_ could be. He wasn't really big. I thought I could take him. I was trying to remember the way back, how far I'd have to go before I ran into someone, anyone. I'm not a very fast runner."

I was amazed she was able to think that clearly then, with as frightened as she seemed now. Oh, she was trying hard to be nonchalant about the whole thing, but I could see it. All I wanted to do was touch her, hold her. But she had already shrugged me off once, so I waited. She turned then to look at me.

"Charlie, he . . . his smile. It was . . . sinister."

"He got close enough for you to see his smile?"

"Yes. He put his hand to my face. Charlie, I . . . froze. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream . . ." Then, like the flip of light switch, out came the angry. "_God_, I'm so _stupid_." She paused for a moment and turned to put her water down. She planted each hand against the counter and leaned in, with her back to me again. "You know, I was chased before. By this gang of kids in college."

"Gang of _kids_?"

She spun around to lean against the counter, one hand fisted and the other one holding it. "Yeah, I know it sounds unbelievable. They were around twelve or something. I was walking home from the bars alone. It was about 2:30 in the morning."

"Where? College, I mean."

"Milwaukee. Marquette. They just came out of nowhere." She looked down at the floor. "They asked me if I wanted them to walk me home. I had to laugh, they seemed harmless. I told them no thanks, and said 'Hey, aren't you all supposed to be in bed?' They waved goodbye to me, told me to have a good night, and turned at the corner. I watched them as they started to walk up Kilbourn, whereas I had to cross it to get to my house. It was just across the empty block from where I was. I was walking across the lot when I heard this thumping noise behind me. I turned around to see all of the kids running towards me, throwing glass bottles, and whatever garbage they could pick up along the way to use as weapons."

"What did you do?"

"I ran. I ran to my house. I almost had a meltdown when I realized that I had to open three locks before I could get in. I opened the third one as the first kids reached the bottom of the porch stairs."

"Did you call the cops?"

"No. I bolted the door and flew into the kitchen to get one of the big knives. I sat in the living room with it until my roommates got home. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with the knife. I didn't think I had it in me to stab a kid, but . . . it made me feel better to have it in my hand."

"Did they go away?"

"Yeah, they just left. When my roommates got home, I asked them if they'd seen any kids around. I don't know how long after it was that they came home, but they said they hadn't seen any kids."

"And you never called the cops?"

"Uh, no. Probably should've, eh?" The bravado instantly disappeared as she put her face in her hands.

"Catherine . . ." I started to walk toward her.

This time she let me put my arms around her. _Finally_. I knew I needed to hold her more than she wanted me to, but I didn't care. We stood like that for what seemed like forever to me. I was okay with forever.

Still, I had to try once more to get her to talk. Hopefully my arms around her would help. "Catherine, what did the guy in the woods say to you?" My voice was low, almost a whisper.

Her answer was muffled against her hands and my chest, but I heard it clearly enough. "He said he'd . . . he'd be w-waiting . . . _for me_."

"_Waiting _for you? Waiting for you _where_?"

"I didn't stick around to find out."

I realized she had yet to shed a tear. Remarkable. "How did you get away?"

She turned her head keeping her ear to my chest. "I knee'd him in the nuts."

Jesus. This woman had guts. "And that's how you hurt your knee."

"Yes. It was weird, though. It was like he was wearing a cup or something - a cup made out of stone."

_A cup? Why would a guy in the woods be wearing a cup? Anticipating the reaction of a female he was preying on? If his goal was to . . . if he'd planned it, then why let her go?_

"I need to call this in." I was still holding her, and she let out a sigh.

"Yes, I realize that."

She looked up at me then. Fear from her ordeal was still there, but it seemed to be replaced by a new fear, as her eyes slowly dropped to my mouth. I wanted to kiss her, at least, I think I did. Did she _want _me to kiss her? I gently lowered my head, waiting for a reaction, watching to see if she gave any hint that I was unwelcome. But she didn't pull away. I pressed my luck, until I watched her lids slowly close as our lips met, and her body gently relaxed into mine. The kiss was soft, innocent, as I left my lips on hers longer than I should have. I suddenly felt a wave of something go over me, the overwhelming urge to protect her.

She pulled her mouth away. "Charlie, I . . ." she stammered.

My hand rubbed tenderly up and down her back. "It's okay. I'm here."

She put her head back to my chest and whispered, "Thank you. Thank you for . . . being here."

I held her like that for a few more moments, not wanting to let her go.

I suddenly blurted out, "You're not staying here. At least, not for now. You're coming with me. We'll go to dinner at the diner, okay? I'll have a few of my guys come out here and check things out while we're gone."

"Uh, okay," she said as she pulled away slightly, but not completely, my hands still resting on her hips. "I need to shower, though."

"Sure, no problem. I'll just go right outside here and call the station. You know, to give you, um, some privacy. Don't worry, though, I'll be right out here." I pointed towards the patio. "Do whatever you need to do."

She limped over to her suitcase, and started to reach for clothes. "Charlie, what should I wear?"

I was halfway out the door. "Wear . . . whatever. This isn't a five-star joint. Don't worry." I smiled and tried again to go out the door.

"Oh, Charlie?"

"Yep?" Unsuccessful attempt #2.

"Why were you here? I mean, how come . . ."

"Yeah, about that." I stopped in the doorway and let out a long sigh. My mind blanked for anything witty, any other reason I might have been there. The truth seemed the best way to go. "I came out to see you. To, uh, get your phone number."

She dropped whatever was in her hands on the floor and came to me in the doorway, flinching as her limp became more pronounced. She pressed one of her hands to my chest, her eyes going back and forth between the two of mine, her mouth gaping open, sheer confusion written all over her face.

"You came . . . to get my phone number? Why? . . . I mean, after the way I treated you yesterday. I wouldn't even _think_ about speaking to me." She lowered her head and dropped her hand down to her side. "I'm _so_ sorry about that. I was a colossal bit . . . uh, idiot.

Two of my fingers touched her chin, nudging her face up so I could stare straight into her stormy blues. "Don't worry about it," I grinned.

"But, Charlie . . ."

"Catherine, seriously. It's over. Forgotten. But . . . I _am_ interested in seeing where our dinner conversation goes." My grin grew into a full-fledged smile to let her know I was kidding. "Now go get cleaned up. I'm starving."

The look on her face was priceless, and I felt like I was witnessing history when I realized she was speechless. I watched her scoot back to get her things and move into the bathroom.

I stepped out the door and looked around. I knew I wouldn't see anyone, but if he was watching, I wanted him to know I was onto him. I called the station with my cell phone, not wanting to use the radio.

Larson picked up on the first ring. "Larson, it's me. Yeah, I'm over at the Kalaloch Lodge."

"Kalaloch Lodge? Whadya doin' over there, Chief?"

I knew _that_ was coming. The guy wasn't a detective because he didn't ask questions.

"Nevermind what I'm doin' here. A woman just told me about a strange run-in with a guy in the woods. You and Jones come out here and check things out."

I gave him Catherine's description of the guy and the trail she'd been hiking.

"Okay, sir. We'll be out there in a jiffy. Is the woman with you so we can get her statement?"

"Er, no. I mean, yes. Uh, I mean, don't worry about the woman, I'm taking care of her. She'll be with me. Just get out here and take a look around. Ask anyone you run into if they've seen a guy in a navy-blue hoodie and jeans."

"Um, sir?"

"Yeah?"

"The woman. Is she, er, okay?"

"She will be. Thanks for asking." I hung up the phone.

I surveyed the surroundings once more, checking to see if there was any speck of evidence the guy had been near her cabin. For all of the strength and courage Catherine had just displayed in there, I knew this was going to hit her. Eventually. Her current state of denial was temporary. I needed to make sure I was around when what just happened to her came flooding back. Because my experience told me it would.

OtherPOV

Imprudent human. Calling in reinforcements. I watched the officer as he exited the cabin and scrutinized the area, obviously in search of my presence. Hah. Such a waste of time. I listened as the officer ordered underlings, most likely, to investigate the property, an unwise move considering _I_ could overhear the conversation in its entirety. His meddling was beginning to wear on me like the cries of a whimpering child in the marketplace.

Another thought overcame my annoyance - the promise of a secondary challenge. The underling had called the officer 'Chief'. My need to apprise Aro of the situation gave way to the notion that Aro would undoubtedly insist on the elimination of the officer. Too simple, really. No doubt I needed to ascertain the officer's identity in order to elucidate the circumstances to Aro. However, I was oddly intrigued by this officer, or rather my lovely Catherine's predisposition for him. Did he have significance? Historically speaking, what was his relevance? I could come upon no reasonable justification other than to ostensibly pursue _my_ fair Catherine.

No matter. Assuredly, Aro's orders would include the officer's demise. Blending back into the shadows of the forest, I chose the highest tree branch, the perfect perch to observe my victim. Or perhaps, victims.

* * *

**A/N:**

Ok, I'm not gonna say it. Nope. I . . .will . . . _not_ . . . ask, . . . will . . . _not_ . . . plead . . .

Thanks again to _everyone_ who's reading, and those of you who _have_ reviewed!


	6. Chapter 6

For those of you who wondered, are still wondering, or for those of you who don't give a fig, the music chosen for the 1st two chapters was intentional. Both Rachmaninoff pieces were "reborn" into pop music in the middle 70s by Eric Carmen (some of you may know him by his Dirty Dancing fame for "Hungry Eyes"). Chapter 1's Symphony #2: Adagio movement became his "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again". Chapter 2's Piano Concerto #2: tAdagio movement became "All By Myself", (remade again in the middle 90s by Celine Dion). His original version of "All By Myself" is actually over seven minutes long and contains his _take_, if you will, on certain themes from Rachmaninoff's original. "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" and "All By Myself" - now you know my method, _or is it my madness_, for the first 2 chapters. ;)

Without further adieu, here is Chapter 6 . . .thanks to all of you for coming with me on the adventure!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Tchaikovsky, Non but the Lonely Heart Op. 6, No. 6

CathPOV

I couldn't _believe _it. _What were the odds? . . ._

I thought about the moment I saw him, running into his outstretched arms, engulfing me in their strength. The utter relief that rushed through me . . .

He had been there when I needed him. It wasn't possible.

I couldn't remember any time in my life where a man had been there for me like that - except for my father. I always knew I could count on my dad, but he was gone now. Nowhere in my memory had any _other_ man ever . . . no boyfriend-y, no relationship-y guy, not in this lifetime anyway. Not until now. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to say. But most of all, I didn't know what to _do_.

My hands shook as I grabbed the shampoo, and it slipped through my fingers and made a loud thump on the shower floor. _Fuck, I needed to get a grip._ But . . . but I hadn't been scared like that in a long time . . .

His kiss. Sweet. Gentle. Unassuming.

_Was I glad he'd kissed me?_

_Yeah._

Although I wondered why he chose that particular moment. Vulnerability? I didn't like the thought that I was the least bit vulnerable. I was a strong, independent woman who just happened upon an asshole psycho at the wrong moment.

A really scary asshole psycho.

Let's not forget I _did _get away. Eventually. I was . . . ok . . . physically. Well, except for my knee, which was really beginning to throb. I needed to find my Advil.

If Charlie hadn't been waiting, though . . . I didn't want to think about that.

_What if the psycho had followed me? What if he did follow me and the sight of Charlie scared him off?_

I didn't want to think of the implications of that, either. No, I was sure he didn't follow me out of the woods, which meant, at least in my mind, that he didn't know which cabin was mine. Yes, I needed to count on that.

Charlie. His questioning eyes, his searching mouth, the prickly hairs of his mustache feeling just like I'd imagined - _kissing _Charlie. _Now_ with the anguish. Washing my hair like I'd done a million times before, my hands settled to the sides of my head trying to stop the swirling of my mind underneath them. I needed to get a hold of myself. But . . . dare I think? Dare I ask?

_Was I scared more of the guy, or whatever was happening with Charlie? _

This . . . this thing with Charlie, I mean really. We'd known each other for what, two days? Hell, I didn't really even _know _him know him. Just a few short conversations, one of which I wanted to forget. But he _had_ come out here, even after the way I treated him, to get my phone number, which in my book said 'to see me.' Stupid man didn't know what he was getting himself into.

_"I'll be waiting for you."_

Out of nowhere, the voice echoed in my head, the ominous whisper, his cold hand on my skin. His hand had been _very_ cold, almost eerily so. I shuddered. This time it was my conditioner that fell victim to my non-cooperative hands.

"STOP!" I said out loud, shaking my head. _Stop thinking about it, him._ Deep breaths. Deep, cleansing breaths.

I had to pull myself together. I couldn't allow Charlie to see the terror. That would make me weak, helpless, and oh so stupidly female. Three of my cardinal sins. Thank God he was outside and couldn't hear my clumsiness. Okay. I just had to suck it up and get through the next few hours. No biggee after the last, oh, four. I would be fine. Everything would be fine. The psycho was probably long gone, especially after he'd seen me in the arms of a cop. _If _he'd seen that.

I stepped out the shower and tried to hurry, but my mind and my hands were out of synch. I dashed on some makeup, double checking to make sure I hadn't drawn a path to my ear with my eyeliner, and then diffused my curls just enough to make me relatively presentable. I pulled on jeans and a light blue sweater. It was really all I had that was semi-okay for a date.

_Was this a date?_

I opened the bathroom door and scanned for Charlie. He was still outside. _Bless him._ He must have seen me walk out from the corner of his eye, because he was instantly through the door and back inside.

"I'm sorry I took so long. I . . ."

"No problem." He was staring.

"What?"

"You look . . . nice."

Looking him in the eye at that moment was out of the question, as the effect of the compliment beamed out of my cheeks like some sort of beacon in a red light district. So I settled on admiring the semi-polish of his black work shoes.

"Thanks." I was sure my aw-shucks smile made me look about fourteen.

"How's the knee?"

"Um, well, a little sore. I think it's just a bruise, though. I just need to find my Advil."

I walked over to my suitcase to pretend to look for it, if only to save myself from my own awkwardness. I found it too quickly and went to get my water to wash it down, his close proximity as I went to the counter damn near unavoidable. As I passed him, his feather-light grip on my arm sent a zing through it and out my fingertips.

"Hey, do you want a doctor to look at it? I know . . one." The way he said it made me wonder; it was almost as if he was unsure of suggesting it.

I turned to him and rallied all of my strength, positive that this would be just the first of many times tonight I would be reassuring both him and myself. "No. Really, that's not necessary. It will be fine."

_I will be fine._

He looked me straight in the eye then, probably trying to get a read on whether or not I was telling the truth. "All right. But if it gets any worse, I'm dragging you to the hospital." I could tell he was serious.

I closed my eyes in acquiescence. I wasn't going to argue with him. I suddenly felt too emotionally exhausted to even attempt it, so I changed the subject. "C'mon, you must be starving. Let's get out of here." I needed new scenery.

"Okay, sure, but I promised one of my detectives I'd stop at the station to sign some paperwork. Do you mind?"

"It's your stomach," I said, hopefully giving him a convincing enough smile.

The drive to the station wasn't long, but in some ways, it felt like an eternity. My ability to be an even remotely sociable co-pilot struggled with my attempts to think about anything else than where I was, and Charlie's not-so-subtle glances at me. Something about being in his squad car made me feel overly conspicuous.

_Shit, yeah, it's a fuckin' squad car. Last time you were in one of these, you were in the back seat . . . _

I chanced a look over at him, and of course, he was looking at me. He smiled and put his eyes back on the road.

"You okay?" he asked for what seemed like the 42nd time.

"Yes." It came out like an exasperated sigh, but it was all I could muster.

"Do you want to talk about it some more? Maybe there's something else you might remember?"

All of my muscles seized, but I couldn't tell if he noticed. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I wanted it to go away.

"Um, do you mind if we don't?"

"Nope. No problem."

We pulled into the parking lot outside the station, and Charlie parked in a spot right by the entrance doors. I knew that everyone in the place was aware of what happened. I didn't want to go in. I didn't know if they'd stare, or worse yet, avoid me at all cost. I didn't want to be asked anymore questions.

"Charlie, do you mind if I stay here while you go in?"

His initial look of concern was replaced by perceptive acceptance. "Sure."

He paused, as if he had second thoughts about leaving me. He pulled the handle to open the door, then glanced back. "I'll be quick."

My eyes followed him as he left the car and walked through the doors. I noticed the light that was left peeking through the clouds and thought the sunset would've been beautiful tonight. It occurred to me I had yet to actually see one from the beach. Mentally, I put it at the top of my list of things to do.

I looked out the window and considered all that had transpired in just the two days I had been in Forks. I had been craving peace, but pandemonium had hit like a sudden hailstorm. It was all too much to process, really. And now, I was sitting in a squad car, waiting for a police officer; a rather nice police officer . . .

That prickly feeling on my neck returned. I sat up quickly, shifted to my knees, and felt a sharp stab in the right one. I turned all the way around to scan the view out every window, ignoring the additional pain each time I moved. I couldn't see very well out the back window, because the partition that separated the front and back seat interfered. I looked at the handle of the door, trying to find the way to lock them all, banging my hand on anything protruding, pushing any button. Was there a secret to these cars or something?

_There isn't anyone out there. There isn't anyone out there_. My imagination was on overdrive. I sat back down and desperately willed myself to relax, trying every trick I'd ever heard - breathing techniques, visualization.

_Breathe._ It wasn't working, the dizziness built as breathing became panting.

_Should I make a run for it? Should I go into the station?_ No. There was no way I was leaving this car. I brought my head down to my knees, not only to get rid of the spinning in my head, but also to duck down so he wouldn't see me. _So he wouldn't see me?_ _Was I losing my fucking mind?_ He wasn't out there. He couldn't be.

My car door suddenly flew open, and for a millisecond, I thought it was . . .

"Catherine!" My body jolted as Charlie didn't try to hide his alarm. He knelt on the frame of the car and softly ran his hand up and down my back.

"Catherine, are you alright? Talk to me."

"Yes. Yes." I struggled to bring myself upright, desperately trying to diminish my phobia, forcing my body to cooperate. The lightheadedness prevailed, though, and my eyes closed as my head collapsed backwards against the headrest.

"I'm okay. I'm just . . . a bit . . . dizzy. I thought . . . I just . . ." I couldn't finish the sentence. I sounded ridiculous. "I think . . . I just need to eat."

Charlie slid from the frame onto his feet, still crouching next to the door. He let out a long sigh, scratching the back of his head with the comforting hand that had been at my back.

"Okay. Yep."

_Good. No more questions_.

He stood up slowly, pausing for one last glance at me before shutting the door. As he walked to his side of the car, he scanned the doors and the station windows closest to us. We both knew the whole department was most likely in the shadows, obscured by curtains or file cabinets, watching the whole thing.

_Great, an audience._

He opened his door, sat down behind the wheel, and put the keys into the ignition without looking at me. I didn't know whether he was pissed, or . . . something else, but I knew I was the cause. I chanced a glance at him, but before he started the car, he reached over and took my hand. I flinched; not because I didn't want him to hold it, but because it was so unexpected. I looked down at his hand holding mine, then back into his eyes. He wanted to say something; the edge of his mouth twitched, but he just let out a loud breath and squeezed my hand tighter.

I managed to lift my head off of the headrest and sit a little straighter. "Charlie, I'm fine. Really."

Even I wasn't convinced, but the whirling in my head had stopped, and the panic had been reduced to just an uneasiness, which I attributed to my hand in Charlie's.

To start the car, he let it go. I wanted the comfort of my hand in his back.

We drove in silence the few blocks it was, until we reached the diner. I'd regained equilibrium somewhere within the first block, and felt better by the time Charlie parked the car. I couldn't help but grin at the place, it was cute, quaint, and almost exactly what I'd imagined it to be. I could see why he liked it.

Charlie held the door for me as I walked in, and he made a beeline to a table in the corner. He made small talk with the waitress, a woman named Cora, in a way that screamed they knew each other. Something in her body language made me think it was more than because of his penchant for meals here. It was the way most women knew about other women, and surprise turned to suspicion as my instincts kicked in. The urge to put her in her place, to claim him as _mine_, rose from the depths of a long lost and forgotten corner of my brain, shocking the hell out of me. I didn't think accidentally flinging my fork at her head would be a good thing to do in front of a cop, so I resisted the urge.

Finally, after a five-minute flirtation worthy of my gag reflex, she took our orders. Both of us decided on burgers and fries, and laughed at the coincidence. She gave me a sly once-over as she left us, not once engaging me in conversation, even after Charlie introduced me. I suddenly recognized the force flowing through me like a shot of adrenaline directly into my veins - jealousy.

_Fuck you, bitch. _My strength had definitely returned.

Charlie didn't seem to notice anything, and did his best to keep the conversation light, his questions doing much to subdue the green-eyed monster within me. His interest in my family threw me into a spirited, if not brief, description of my mom, my brother and his wife, my sister and her daughter. In the midst of it all, Cora came back with our burgers, giving a generous smile, and a too-far leanover to hand Charlie his plate. Mine, she just dropped down in front of me.

Again, Charlie seemed oblivious, and racked up considerable points with me because of it. He asked about my father, so I explained a very complex man in a short amount of time, of his sudden heart attack, and about how we'd all been there at the house when it happened.

I grabbed a fry. "I really miss him."

"He sounds like a good man."

"He was."

We talked about sports - he'd noticed the White Sox tee I'd worn earlier. I told him about my passion for golf, how my illustrious basketball career had ended with a torn ACL, and my unmitigated hatred for the Cubs. He told me of his love for all teams Seattle, and seemed amazed at my knowledge of not only the Mariners, but Seahawks as well. Well, I had to admit Hasselbeck _was _cute.

He asked a lot of questions, obviously the cop in him, and I answered, keeping the memory of that first breakfast conversation as far from my mind as humanly possible, and being as charming as I knew how, in case _Cora_ was spying.

It suddenly struck me I was monopolizing the conversation. "I've talked about myself enough. What do you like to do? I mean, when you have a day off, or days off, how do you spend them?"

"Fishing. Love fishing." He loved his burger, too, which he chewed before replying.

"Really? Me, too. I used to go with my dad all the time."

"You? You know how to fish?" His 'you're-a-woman-you're-not-supposed-to-know-how-to-fish' assumption hung in the air.

I raised my eyebrow and said, "As a matter of fact, I do. In fact, while fishing on a lake in Galena, Illinois, with my grandpa, my great uncle, my dad, and my brother, guess who caught the biggest fish?"

"I don't know if I want to hear the rest of this story." He seemed suddenly very interested in putting more ketchup on his plate.

"Mmmhmm. Nineteen inch large-mouth bass. I'm quite proud of it." I sat straighter in my chair.

He looked at me and took another big bite of his burger. "I can tell."

"Not only was it the largest fish, but I also caught it with the crappy pole and busted reel. My dad gave me the busted pole on purpose. When I went to reel the thing in, my line got all tangled, and I had to walk across the pontoon boat to get it close enough so my Dad could net it." He laughed out loud.

"I'll be honest with you, though. When I first looked into the net, there was so much seaweed, I thought I'd caught a turtle."

He laughed even harder. It was an interesting laugh, an _attractive_ laugh, and I found myself giggling, too. I went to take the last bite of my hamburger, when I felt him staring. For proof, I looked up.

"What?"

"You're an interesting gal, Miss Catherine O'Hara."

"Hmmm. You don't know the half of it."

"What's your middle name?"

"Why?

"Just curious."

I pondered this question, only because I didn't like my middle name. It was bad enough that some people figured it out before I even told them. My three names together were unoriginal, and well, downright cheesy.

"You'll never get it out of me," I replied determinedly.

"Well, we'll see about that. I don't really have to _get_ it out of _you_. I could just, oh, I don't know, do a little _investigating_. A background check, maybe." He conveyed the unspoken challenge with a shit-eating grin, but hurriedly brought his napkin to his mouth to hide it.

"You wouldn't dare. . ." but my intuition told me he most definitely would.

. . .

After dinner, Charlie insisted on going to his place for awhile. I knew he didn't want me to go back to the cabin, but I wasn't sure I was ready for a sleepover.

He pulled into his drive, and I suddenly had the urge to ask, "Tell me, Chief, do you cart a lot of females around in the passenger seat of your squad car?" I turned in my seat to look directly at him.

"Um, well, no. It's against regulations."

"I see. And is it standard procedure to do background checks on females you just met, literally on the side of the road? You know, using, um, police resources?" I could tell he didn't like where I was going with my line of questioning.

He thought for a few moments, then just laughed. He got out of the car and walked over to open my door. I stood up and rose to my tip toes, purposely positioning my face inches from his. "Well?" My innocent expression would have won an Oscar.

"Trying to start something with me, aren't you?" His playful smile slowly receded, and his face turned serious. His eyes went to my lips, the intention to kiss me like a magnet pulling me to him. Every nerve in my body tingled.

"No, just trying to finish it."

_Psyche._ I let my half-turn and not-so subtle view of my back speak volumes as I limped up to the house. That magnet feeling settled somewhere in my spine and I knew he was still standing where I'd left him - watching me. _Hee._

I waited for him by the door, purposely not looking at him until he unlocked it and politely said, "After you."

He flipped a switch that turned on a light by the couch, and I could see the inside of his house was typical for a man living alone – huge, flat-screen TV, comfy couch, and chair. Pictures of a girl at various ages hung on the wall, drawing me to them.

"This is your daughter, right? What's her name?"

"Isabella, but she likes to be called Bella," Charlie answered as he walked into the kitchen.

Isabella. A name I had written down long ago in a journal no longer kept. A name I had picked out if I had ever had any daughters. I felt a twinge - a mixture of envy, regret, and sadness.

"You want a beer?" he called out.

"She looks like you. Yes, please." But I kept studying the pictures.

"Is this her family then?" A picture of Bella, and presumably her husband and toddler daughter, caught my attention.

"Um, yeah," Charlie relayed from inside the fridge.

They were . . . the only word I could think of was beautiful. Even at the distance the picture was taken, I could tell. They were outside somewhere; it looked like Forks with the trees in the background. There was something about it, though, something about them. I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Here you go," Charlie's hand appeared in front me with the offered beer. "That's Edward, Bella, and Renesmee."

"I'm sorry, Ruh-what?"

Charlie seemed amused. "Ruh-_nez_-may. R-e-n-e-s-m-e-e. It's a combination of both her grandmothers' names - Renee and Esme. It was Bella's idea. Most of us just call her Nessie, although Bella hates it."

"It's cute. I can see why Bella did it." I leaned in again for a closer look at the picture.

"You _can_?" he said surprised.

"Sure. It's original. I like the way she thinks." _Why did he all of sudden seem nervous?_

I let it go, and clinked my can against his. "Cheers!" As I took a drink, I walked over to the TV to get a closer look. "Nice."

He went over to the stereo. "What do you like to listen to?"

"Oh, anything and everything. Whatcha got?" He flipped a few buttons and the Eagles Greatest Hits began to play.

"Eagles, hmm?"

He slowly approached me, and put his beer on the end table. No coaster. I inwardly giggled at my astute observation.

"Catherine . . ." I didn't let him finish.

"Charlie, please. I'm _fine_. Really I am."

"Okay. But I was just going to say I have to go, uh, use the boys' room."

"Oh, whoops!" I giggled. "Okay, I'll be waiting right here."

He turned and ran up the stairs. I took a gulp of my beer. I'll be waiting . . .

_"I'll be waiting for you."_

I was transported back to the forest. He was standing in front of me, the only thing visible on his face that . . . _smile_. My hands began to shake.

_"No, you're traveling alone. Not very prudent. You never know who you might meet . . . in a place like this."_

I wanted to scream Charlie's name, but it came out in a whisper. At least, I think it came out.

His hand. Down my face to my neck. Cold. I shivered so hard now I bent over. I tried to put my beer on the coffee table, but I missed and it fell to the floor. My arms wrapped around myself. I needed to regain control. I need to calm down before Charlie . . . .

The loud thumps on the stairs brought me half-way back, and I looked to see Charlie racing down them - he'd obviously heard the thud my beer made when it hit the floor. I had to clean it up. I . . .

"Ch-Charlie, I . . ." His arms were around me before I could explain.

"I've got you. I've got you."

Over and over he whispered it, until it began to sink in. My hands sought out the comfort he was giving, slowly going around his waist to midway up his back, my palms pressing him closer to me. My cheek rested against his chest, drawing in his strength, as I let go of the fear. I wanted to stay there, wrapped like a swaddled child, free from worry.

I slowly raised my eyes upward, studying his thick brown hair, his rugged face, the tickly mustache above his lip, and finally his mouth. In an instant, I knew what I wanted. That mouth over mine. I brought my lips to his, the hesitant touch of his tongue meeting no resistance, and tasted the uniqueness of him mingled with the tang of beer.

In that instant, the world, my world, evaporated around me. He was tender. I was greedy. I needed to dull the pain, erase my memory, feed my soul. My hands sought out the firm pecs subtlety introduced on the side of a lonely road, as I pulled my head away to look at him again, searching his eyes for some sort of answer. Some sort of epiphany.

"Catherine . . ."

My mouth was on his again, answering his unspoken question, surrendering to the need within me. He danced me to the couch, as if he himself had invented the waltz, my body responding as if I'd always been his partner. He turned me so he could sit, pulling my hands with his toward the comfort of his lap. I put one leg on either side of him, giving in to his invitation, my knee pain a distant memory.

The chill of his fingers exploring underneath my sweater, encircling my waist, sent a shudder through me. I unbuttoned button after button on his uniform shirt as he watched, and I stopped to look at what I uncovered. My eyes hungrily followed what my fingers touched, as they traveled a path from the base of his neck down through the valley of his chest, an inviting blend of soft tufts of hair and warm skin.

Suddenly, his hand pressed down against mine, holding it prisoner, bringing my gaze to his face, effectively halting the sensations that were shooting through me. His eyes searched mine for understanding, permission, absolution. Before I could even commit to an answer, he leaned forward and caught my back with his arm, gently laying me down onto the couch, my now-straightened leg caught between each of his knees.

His body pressed closer as he supported his weight on hands to the side of me, never taking his eyes off mine. As his one elbow bent, he brought his mouth to mine again, sliding down until our bodies met, and then to the side of me. The fingers of his other hand cautiously explored a path underneath my sweater, gliding delicately over my sensitive stomach, until they reached the thin satin of my bra. I inhaled deeply as they tenderly caressed, his mouth moving across my cheek, to my ear, to my neck, the prickliness of his mustache tickling the path his lips took. I could feel his . . . _him_ against my thigh.

Somewhere in the back of my head, my own voice scolded.

_Catherine, just what the hell are you doing?_

But I refused to listen.

_Shut up._

My one free hand ignored the voice in my head, drifting from his chest, over the bone of his shoulder, up the back of his neck, and into his hair, getting lost in its thick, soft texture.

His fingers explored the confines of material they found, until suddenly tunneling up and under, drawing a sound from me somewhere between a whisper and a squeal. As he brushed his calloused thumb across my nipple, my body edged closer, wanting more of his touch, my hips inadvertently seeking what I'd felt against my thigh.

Then the damn voice was back again.

_Catherine!_

_What?_

Clarity broke through the lust.

_You hardly know him!_

She was right. I hardly knew him. The Police Chief. The _Police Chief_!

What the fuck was I thinking?

We had to stop. I had to stop . . . this. I brought my hands to his chest and pushed timidly, the muscled firmness that met them and what his tongue was doing was nearly enough to make me forget my intention.

I pulled my head back a fraction and whispered, "Charlie, wait. _Please_."

He popped his head up, and I recognized the disappointment he tried to hide. As he slowly rolled to his side, his hand slid back across my skin, out from underneath my sweater, to rest on my hip. On the _outside_ of my jeans.

My embarrassment was only overshadowed by my guilt. I knew where I had been, and I _felt _where he had been; at least my thigh felt it.

"I'm . . . I'm sorry. I . . ." I looked away. "I'm sorry." It was all I could think to say. The right words, the appropriate words, were lost somewhere in the fog that had been my vocabulary.

He brought his hand to my face, and with his fingertips, brushed softly over my cheek, then over my lips. "Shhhh. Please don't say you're sorry. _I'm_ sorry. I . . . I shouldn't have attacked you like that."

_Was he kidding?_ "Attacked _me_? Charlie, you didn't attack me. I think I was pretty instrumental into getting us where we are right now."

He leaned back away from me, taking his hand from my lips, and heaved an unmistakably heavy sigh.

I took the opportunity to untangle my leg from his and slowly get up, planting both feet firmly on the floor. "Charlie, I . . . we . . ."

His hand rubbed up and down my back. "It's okay. You should club me over the head with a bat for taking advantage of you like that."

"Charlie, you didn't take _advantage_ of me. Please stop saying that." I dropped my head into my hands.

"Catherine, I know what happened before we . . . I saw you when I came down the stairs . . . I heard your beer hit the floor."

_Oh yeah, the_ _. . . the episode_. "Yes, well, if I remember correctly, I kissed you _first_."

I took my face out of my hands and turned to look at him. He had his head propped in his hand, staring intently at the couch cushion. My attempt at humor only brought a half grin. I leaned back, resting my head on his side. I took his hand in front of me and interlocked my fingers with his. I noticed how big his hands were; they were much larger than mine.

"Charlie, you need to take me back to the cabin." I chanced a look back at his face.

"Yeah," he said from somewhere faraway. He didn't look at me when he said it, but instead, focused on our hands. I didn't have a clue what he was thinking.

"Just so you know . . . I don't want you to go."

"Yes, I'm aware of that."

He started to get up, and I stood up to get out of his way. He grabbed my arm and playfully pulled me onto his lap, cradling me.

"I'll take you back, but I'm calling some of my guys to come out there and watch things. At least until you're with me again tomorrow."

"Um, okay," was all I could reply, knowing full well I wouldn't sleep a wink if I were out there all alone.

His arm brought my head up for one last slow, soft kiss before I could escape.

"You keep doing that, fella, and we won't get anywhere."

"I know." His mischievous smile left no question in my mind what he was thinking now.

As he drove me back to the cabin, he held my hand, only letting go to call the station and request two men come and stand watch during the night. He walked me to my door, pulled me into his arms, and gave me one last long kiss before he opened it.

He turned on the light, checked under the bed and in the bathroom, and with one last peck to my forehead, said, "I'll stay in my car until the guys arrive. You won't be alone for a second. Oh, and give me your phone number. Now."

We both took the ten seconds it took to program our phone numbers in each's other's cells. As he walked out, he glanced at the bed, and I knew what he was thinking. I didn't want to be alone in it either.

Other POV

Infuriating. My suspicion of this _Chief_ had escalated into a deep-seated loathing throughout the day's surveillance. From mid-afternoon, when the Chief attempted to safeguard her, to when the underlings had arrived to investigate, to when I tracked them both to what I assumed to be the headquarters for the Chief.

I nearly revealed myself to her when she was alone in the auto. My observations through his domicile window as she seized his mouth with hers, welcomed his treacherous touch, entertained his eventual groping. Jealousy flowed through my veins more powerful than the venom I would eventually bestow. When she passionately whispered his name, _Charlie_, I yearned to hear my _own_ name fall from her lips. I briefly envisioned demanding it from her the inevitable moment the last breaths left her body.

This Chief Charlie... The desire to kill him, suck him dry, and leave him rotting for the carrion to peck at his carcass was nearly as strong as my desire for Catherine. I watched now, as Chief Charlie walked from Catherine's dwelling to his auto, and was nearly overcome with the realization that Chief Charlie was now alone. Unencumbered. Unprotected.

But this mission, my _glory_, salvaged me from fulfilling my innermost desire. I must confer with Aro. Charlie. Chief Charlie . . . all that was required was his surname. I would ascertain the identity of the Chief and report the latest developments to Aro. I would take great pleasure in what I foresaw would be the quick obliteration of Chief Charlie, but not nearly as much as I would in the slow, methodical conquest of Catherine.

A/N:

Yeah, I know. I _know_.

I wouldn't have stopped him either . . .

15


	7. Chapter 7

I'll just say I believe some of you have been waiting for this chapter, so I will not keep you . . .

But thanks to my fab beta, Jenny Cullen!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata

OtherPOV

I reached my quarters and yielded to the knowledge that my beloved Catherine would slumber this night without the benefit of my constant vigilance. I had overheard Chief Charlie's parting remarks, relinquishing his personal security to that of his two underlings, who were unlike the boors who had arrived to investigate after my enchanting discussion with Catherine in the forest. As if their commonplace attire would dupe _me_ into thinking they were anything but law enforcement officers.

I scanned my accommodations and sniffed the air, assuring that no one had invaded my sanctuary. Upon arriving, I had explained that privacy was crucial, providing a tale about authoring a manuscript, and that personal attendant service was unnecessary. The personnel and guests plagued my thirst, a cacophony of scents that severely tested my resolve. But my regimen of animal blood was vital to the disguise, as it would allow me to travel in relative freedom, without attracting suspicion. Aro and I had practiced, or shall I say _tested_, the abysmal act before my departure. He had explained this was how the Cullens were able to establish themselves in the surrounding community. Their unusual diet turned their eyes an amber color, which allowed them to interact with dim-witted humans. However, it was imperative that I travel far from the local area for meals, and completely hide any evidence of it, burying it or casting it into the sea.

So I endured. My mission could not, _must_ not, be compromised by my instinctual hunger.

Aro had explained very little about these Cullens, only that their lifestyle choice was incomprehensible to the Volturi. The coven leader, Carlisle, had taken it upon himself to choose the path, and the others followed, whether blindly or educated, Aro did not explain. I knew it was a fairly large coven, numbering nine, and included a half-human, half-vampire child. Aro didn't explain and I didn't inquire, but he offered photographs so I would become familiar with each and avoid them.

However, _Isabella_ Cullen was another matter entirely. Her fabled visit to Volterra _as a human_ to recover the telepath Edward Cullen, along with the other woman who could see the future, coupled with the entire guard's trip to Forks, were only whispered about in the farthest recesses of the underground caverns. Her talent was legendary, and her ability to block Aro from her thoughts, a rare gift indeed. But those that dared share the tales mysteriously disappeared. Fortune had seen to it that I had only overheard their murmurs, but intellect recognized the advantage of keeping that knowledge locked away.

My eyes chanced around the rather derelict surroundings. Being within these four walls only once when I first arrived to relinquish my personal belongings, before returning immediately to surveil my quarry, I had not fully appreciated the general untidiness. The skill of the staff was questionable. I had often read about establishments referred to as "seedy motels". I now understood the idiom.

Admittedly, my frame of reference only included what I had gleaned from readings and research. I was a mere servant, rushing at any request of the triumvirate, Aro, Marcus, and Caius, and fulfilling with less enthusiasm the demands of the inferior members of the guard. While free to roam the underground tunnels of the city as I gained the trust of those above me, I had yet to attain an invitation to remain amongst them. I fed off unsuspecting humans who, by their happenstance or sheer unfortuitousness, crossed my path, although once I had been invited to one of Heidi's feasts in the great hall. Still, I longed to be one of them, to walk amongst them freely, and to leave the dark caverns below. This mission was my opportunity to reach this status, recompense for years of compliance.

It was during one of these promenades I had discovered my talent. Coming upon Demetri, my mind seized upon willing myself to disappear from view as I backed into the shadow of a recessed doorway. Strangely enough, Demetri walked within a hairsbreadth of me, and I was sure I would quickly be discovered. But dread melted into astonishment as he did not see, nor even scent, my presence. Once I recognized my ability and was able to recreate it, I began to practice so as to offer my services to Aro whenever needed. Aro took great interest, personally helping to refine it to the level it was now, nearly instantaneous once I thought about it. I was convinced it was the reason Aro had chosen me for this most important task.

Aro had been quite secretive about the impetus of this mission. Yes, I had been shown the demise of Catherine by my hands, and the subsequent fulfillment of all my hopes and dreams. I presumed Catherine was a threat, apparently enough so for Aro to dispatch someone to destroy her. But Aro offered no more explanation, and again, I didn't inquire. The reason Aro avoided sending Felix or Demetri was a mystery. Demetri, a renowned tracker, and Felix, with his brute strength, were more than sufficient against a powerless human. The only reason I could surmise was due to the actuality that Demetri and Felix had joined Aro and the rest of the guard when they traveled last to Forks. But I, even when Carlisle had been in Volterra, had never had any dealings with any of them. Perhaps this was the simple reason - the Cullens could easily identify both of them, but didn't know me at all.

So thus it was. My order, my duty - to kill the woman and return to Volterra for my reward. Uncomplicated. I could have accomplished it that first day, or quite a few opportunities since. It was only my indelible curiosity that postponed the inevitable and kept her alive.

_Catherine_. I walked to the bed, and reclined on the ineffective piece of furniture, breathing in the residue of the countless number of humans who had left remnants of themselves behind - evidence of their proclivities. My thoughts drifted to what I had witnessed in the most recent hours. My Catherine had nearly ended our time together with her penchant towards reckless activity this evening, what with her wantonness being so evidently displayed at the Chief's domicile. I smiled as my mind offered a vision of my lovely Catherine exhibiting that identical brazenness with me. Oh, what I wouldn't give now to touch her smooth skin as that simple human man had been given the right to do, to feel her demonstrative lips encompass my own, to surpass the limits that she herself had eventually set... To feel my cold hardness thrusting deep inside her warmth, and the ripples of her eventual release as my venom flowed into her. An outward moan astonished me. I decided Catherine was toying with me, testing me resolve, although she had no reason. She _would be_ mine, regardless of some Chief Charlie.

_Ah, yes. Chief Charlie._ I arose to turn on the portable computing device Aro had insisted I learn how to use years ago. Although I hadn't strayed from the confines of Volterra, for to do so would have been certain death, Aro insisted I study the outside world, if only to practice my communication skills within the ever-evolving vernacular of the changing decades. I preferred to speak classical English - a vestige leftover from my human days. My portfolio of languages included Italian, German, Russian, and various dialects of Slavic origin, some from my time at University before being turned, and some learned after.

I waited while the computing machine, my _laptop_, achieved full awakening, and became conscious of the fact that determining Chief Charlie's surname would be a rather effortless task. A mere _googling_, another infinitely odd word of the time, would provide all the information necessary. I pressed the keys and formed the words "Forks Washington Chief of Police," and within moments, it appeared. Chief of Police Charlie Swan. _Swan_. With that information, I opened the program that would give access to electronic mail to check if Aro had dispatched any messages.

There were only two current ones, but the fact that Aro was compelled to send a second was rather unsettling. I opened the first:

_Damian,_

_At your earliest convenience, please enlighten us with current events. _

_Aro_

Hmmm. So brief, yet unmistakable. I then read the second.

_Damian,_

_I'm assuming your lack of communication means that you find it necessary to withhold details of your progress. It would be such a pity if you were to return home unable to fulfill your obligation. We are here to assist you if need be; you need merely ask. Please let us know your whereabouts and any developments._

_Aro_

The thinly veiled threat was as transparent as newly-polished glass. Aro was not pleased. I knew I must report back and quickly. I decided upon _instant messaging, _trulyan amazing invention, and attempted to reach Aro.

_Master Aro? Are you available?_

I waited 32 seconds.

_Ah! Damian! There you are! We wondered what had become of you. _

Yes - wondered and most likely planned _my_ demise if I failed to complete the mission.

_I have news. I have located the objective, although there has been a minor complication. A Chief Charlie Swan has entered the arena. Requesting directives on how to deal with this matter._

I waited a full two minutes for a response.

_Charlie _Swan? _You are most positive? You must be to send complete identification. Swan is Isabella Swan, now Isabella_ Cullen's, _father. It is most unfortunate, since you must avoid the Cullens at all cost. Charlie Swan is unaware of the certain nature of the Cullens, and as long as he remains so, he is free of retribution. Besides, we cannot upset the tenuous peace we have with our brothers and sisters in the West. No, I'm afraid you must keep with only the intended outcome. Charlie Swan is excused from your mission. I remind you to keep vigilant of your special talent and not falter in light of these events. _

Isabella Swan's father. Isabella _Cullen_. I nearly hurled the machine across the room, but collected myself to compose a reply.

_I'm at your command. The task will be completed as you wish without delay. _

It wasn't necessary to inform Aro at this time of my intent to _delay_ as long as possible.

_Thank you, dearest Damian. We await your return._

I quickly closed the programs and powered off the machine. Charlie Swan is _excused_?

_Oh, the injustice of it!_

I couldn't fathom the probability in which my dear Catherine would come upon a Cullen relation the first minutes of her arrival. If self-flagellation were still possible, or even an effective chastisement, I would have succumbed to the urge, as I evoked the countless opportunities that had gone for naught since her arrival.

_I remind you to keep vigilant of your special talent and not falter in light of these events._

The last line of Aro's message returned to me, the reminder about my ability to cloak myself from others like me was indeed odd. Practice with Aro himself and members of the lesser guard had proved it reliable and impenetrable. He had assured me himself that the other creatures in the area, the wolves, would equally be shielded from my presence, since their primary prey were those like myself. Aro's knowledge of the future provided complete confidence, although I had not seen it with my own eyes, the proof lying somewhere in the vision that Aro had not allowed me to see. Perhaps it was just a subtle reminder, Aro taking it upon himself to guide me as any father would a child.

The Cullens. What about the psychic, the one that had accompanied Isabella Cullen? Had the woman seen my arrival? No. Aro would not have sent me had there been any possibility. Besides, as long as my cloak was in place, I was wholly invisible to any of my kind.

But what of my new yearning, the desire to study and learn from time outside my confines? I pondered this for a moment. If Aro were to summon me upon my return to Volterra, he would likely desire a moment with me to see firsthand the completion of my mission. My delay would be laid bare. Would Aro react negatively? No. Aro would compliment my cleverness, the ingenuity, of my now slowly forming secondary plan, and most assuredly take an ounce of pleasure in the infliction of indirect pain on the Cullens. I settled upon the ultimate comfort that Aro would see and relish her eventual termination, and forgive me my derivative.

Chief Charlie Swan. Venom pooled in my mouth as I thought the name. Still, Aro had spoken nothing of . . . persecution. Yes. His message was clear. Charlie Swan was _excused_. Nothing in Aro's message indicated contradictorily on the alternative. Slow, painful torture. Torture to the brink of death. After all, Charlie Swan's employment harkened the likelihood of it. Made it almost inevitable. Thugs, thieves, and murderers abounded in today's society. Any nefarious human could be blamed.

My mood lightened.

I considered this additional endeavor and became energized. Thrilled. I remembered a colloquialism I had come across in one of my readings - I would have my cake and eat it, too - and chuckled heartily at this newfound understanding. Oh, the joy in all I was learning on this adventure!

Still, I must reign in my enthusiasm for this inspiration, and objectively weigh the two possible outcomes of this new initiative. I could toy with Charlie Swan, or eliminate him outright, using some criminal element as cover. It was, as I had read in a recent business periodical, a win-win situation. The thrill of this possibility nearly overcame my desire to follow Aro's orders.

Logic stealthily crept through, like a weed through the smallest crevice.

_Executing him in addition to Catherine would be . . . reckless and foolhardy_.

Aro would know the minute he took my hand in his upon my return. To torture him, to leave him alive to witness . . . my order was to eliminate Catherine outright, not toy with her like some dog with a bone. How could I hide my true nature if Charlie Swan were present?

The other voice, the more palatable one, goaded me into reassurance.

_He would never know your secret, from whom your orders were issued, nor the motivation of the mission. _

"Hmmm," I uttered aloud.

Caution would be vital in those last moments. In the upcoming days, I would need to formulate a scenario that would resolve the interference of Chief Charlie Swan, one that did not inflate the ire of the Cullens. But _indirect_ pain to their peculiar coven? I rested all hope on Aro's modicum of approval for their residual grief.

I had much to ponder this night, as I slipped from my room to take my place in the trees near my beloved Catherine. The darkness of night afforded the cover that would allow me to peer through her windows to watch her slumber. Perhaps I would venture in for a closer view. Confident in my prowess, the two imbeciles stationed to guard her would be oblivious to a silent approach.

CathPOV

_I'llll . . . beee . . . waaaiting . . . forrrr . . . youuuu._

Cold hand touching me. Grasping my throat. Throwing me down on the path. Lowering himself onto me.

_You're traveling alone._

My mouth opened to scream. I _tried_ to scream. Nothing came out.

_You're traveling alone._

I screamed and screamed, but I made no sound.

Charlie.

Thump. THUMP. CRASH.

My eyes fluttered, trying to focus on two shadowy figures in . . . I blinked to gain focus. Two shapes, which looked like men, had busted through my broken down door. I bolted up screaming. This time I heard it. Everyone within a two mile radius must have heard it.

"Miss O'Hara it's okay! It's us. The police."

My head flopped back down on the pillow, my lungs sucking in air, as I hugged the sheet up to my chin. I was breathing so fast I felt like I was going to pass out.

"Char . . . lie," came out of my mouth, the broken syllables the only sound I could form.

"We're calling him now." One of the men walked up to the bed and knelt next to it. "Miss O'Hara, you're okay. I think you were just dreaming. But we're calling Chief Swan for you."

My chest heaved with the force of trying to regain my breath, when realization struck me. "_No!_" I sat back up, realized my covers had flown off me, and grabbed them up to cover myself. "I mean . . . no. Th-that's unnecessary, really. Don't wake him up."

Too late.

"It's Humphries, sir. . . Yes, sir, I mean, no, sir . . . She's fine . . . Yes, sir, she's just a little . . . It was a dream, sir. . . .Yes, sir . . . She, uh, screamed. We heard her and came busting in . . . Yes, sir . . . Er, yes, definitely, sir . . . Jackson's going right now." The undercover on the phone with Charlie, Humphries, flicked his head at the one next to my bed, Jackson, directing him to go outside.

Jackson smiled to me as he patted the bed. He turned to his partner, "I'm on it," he whispered.

"I don't think he'll find anything . . . Yes, sir. Right away . . . Uh, sir, she's saying it's not necessary . . . Okay." The officer turned to me and held out the phone. "He wants to speak to you."

I took the phone, and two seconds to compose myself. I felt sorry for these guys. Charlie would have their heads if anything . . . and I'd just made them break down my door for a bad dream.

I put the phone up to my ear. "Catherine? Are you alright? I'll be there in a flash. Just let me . . ."

"Charlie, I'm . . . I'm sorry. I . . . I was dreaming. I think. Please don't come out here." As much as I tried to hide it, I so wanted him here. With me. Holding me.

He let out the longest sigh I'd ever heard.

"Please, Charlie. These nice men will be right outside. I . . . I promise not to . . . scream again." I really couldn't promise that, but I could try.

Then as if he knew . . . "You know you can't promise that." I could tell he was pacing. There was a slight shushing noise in the background when he spoke.

I tried my best sales pitch. "Listen to me. It's almost dawn. It's silly for you to come all the way out here. It was just a stupid dream. Please, please go back to sleep. I feel . . . bad enough." I didn't want to be the cause for his mood at the station tomorrow. These nice men might not come back.

"Fine, but I'm taking the day off tomorrow. I'll be out there by ten. I'm taking you . . ."

"But Charlie . . ."

"Don't argue with me."

"Uh, okay. But where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise. Wear comfy, casual clothes. I'm just telling you because I know you're two seconds away from asking me what to wear. That's all the info you're getting. You're mine for the day."

"Oh, okay." If not for the two men milling about my cabin, I would've jumped out of bed and done my happy dance.

"Catherine?"

"Yes?" Silence, except for his breathing. He was thinking long and hard about what he was about to say. "Charlie? You there?"

"I would've been there in minutes."

My heart flipped. Yes, he would've been. I couldn't help but smile like a schoolgirl.

"No. More like _seconds_."

"Sweet dreams this time, all right?"

"Yes. Yes, _sir_. Bye." I hung up the phone and held it out for Humphries. I wouldn't describe what I was in as a daze, but I certainly wasn't attempting a coherent sentence.

I watched as the undercover policemen propped up my door as best they could until someone could come and fix it properly.

"Miss O'Hara, just so you know, we'll be right outside. No one will get past us. Please try to sleep."

"Thank you both. I'm sorry to be such trouble." Or such a basket case. Or such a freak.

Such a stupid _girl_.

"No trouble at all." Jackson nodded almost as if bowing, and followed Humphries out. They did some arranging of my door from the outside, and then it was quiet.

I rolled over on my side and brought the covers up around me, clenching them under my chin. _What did Charlie hesitate to say? Or was he just trying to get a hold of himself?_

I panicked him. Again. _Why did that man even bother with me?_ With those thoughts in my head, I was positive I'd never fall back to sleep.

**A/N:**

Ok, have at me. I'd _really_ like to know.


	8. Chapter 8

So this is a wee bit of a long chapter. Truly sorry. There was just no where to slice or dice, and nothing I wanted to cut. Hopefully, you won't fall asleep before the end. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Grieg, Elegiac Melody No. 2, Opus 34, "The Last Spring"

CharliePOV

"_What? What is it? Catherine?"_

Humphries. _"Yes sir, I mean, no sir."_

"_Is she alright?"_

"_She's fine . . ."_

"_It was a dream, sir . . ."_

"_I'm coming out there."_

"_Uh sir, she saying it's not necessary."_

"_Put her on the phone . . ."_

Her voice. _"Listen to me. It's almost dawn. It's silly for you to come all the way out here. It was just a stupid dream. Please, please go back to sleep . . ."_

"Huh? What? Catherine!" My head shot up like a gopher from where it had been buried in the corner of my pillow, my own voice jolting me from the sleep I'd thought would never come.

I glanced over at the clock. 6:30.

"Fuck." I let my head fall back down. Well, I guess now was as good a time as any to drag my ass out of bed.

I turned on my side, slowly sitting up until my feet hit the floor. My hands pressed at each side of my head, trying to dull the throbbing, and then rubbed, trying to make my brain work.

Getting to sleep after Humphries' call, after talking to Catherine, was damn near impossible, although I must have zonked out at some point. Catherine asking me to stay home at that moment was like asking a charging bull to stop dead in his tracks.

But I had.

My men were there, more than capable . . .

She had _asked_ me to stay home. A _dream_, that's what she'd called it. Yeah, a damn dream that had made her scream so loud my guys broke down her door.

My body stood upright on its own, a quick scratch with my hand made sure the boys were okay. A yawn and a shiver sent me to the bathroom before my feet took the familiar path downstairs to start the coffee. I grabbed my cell phone and hit Humphries' number.

"Morning, Chief."

"Yeah. Everything okay over there?"

"Yep. No more nightmares."

"Alright, good. See you in a bit."

"Yes sir." I slammed the phone shut.

An image of Catherine crossed my mind, her body curled all alone in her bed, which suddenly became her body spooning in mine, my hand clasped in hers snuggled in between . . .

Oh, but I wanted to see her. Touch her. Kiss her. _Again_.

Last night . . . _Christ, last night._

Here. In my house . . . in my living room . . . on my couch.

"Shit." I ran the water and shoved the pot underneath the faucet.

It started off okay, her teasing getting out of the car.

"_Trying to start something with me, aren't you?"_

"_No, just trying to finish it."_

I chuckled to myself. She definitely knew how to fuck with my head. I threw a few scoops of coffee into the filter I'd put in the maker and hit the button.

"_This is your daughter, right?"_

Her looking at the picture of Bella, Edward, and Renesmee sort of freaked me out. I hoped she didn't look too close, notice anything strange. She didn't seem to.

When I'd put on the Eagles, she didn't object. I really didn't know what to put on, so I'd just used the disk that was in there that I'd been listening to earlier.

I leaned against the counter and watched the coffee drip.

But then when I went upstairs – what set her off? Had I said something? . . .

"_Okay. But I was just going to say I have to go, uh, use the boys room."_

"_Okay, I'll be waiting right here."_

I'll be waiting right here. "_I'll be waiting for you."_ So eerily similar, even _I_ felt spooked now. When I'd checked in with Jones yesterday, he said it was like the guy had just disappeared. No evidence by her cabin, no evidence along the trail. No one had seen a guy in a blue hoodie and jeans that day. When I checked in again with Larson on the drive home last night, they'd sworn they'd left no stone unturned, and I knew they weren't shittin' me. But still no leads.

That simple reply had been her trigger. I'd heard something thump on the floor, and for two seconds I'd thought it was her. When I rushed down the stairs and saw her bent over . . .

_Did I imagine her initiating that first kiss?_

No. She . . . _did_ kiss me first. She had said so herself. I thought about that first moment when she looked at me, searching for something, with those incredible blue eyes, and it was all I could do _not_ to kiss her. But then, well, when she . . . it's not like I could stop.

_God, I wanted her._

I wanted to carry her up the stairs, lay her on my bed, peel away the clothing, and just . . . screw for eternity. But I settled for the couch, where her touch . . . the softness of her hand, exploring, sent shock waves down to my toes, to my . . . Yeah, Charlie, Jr. had appreciated it.

But somewhere between that point, and then . . . lying on the couch, she had . . . changed her mind? _Dammit._ What did I do wrong? Did I scare her? Was I too . . . _fast? _

_Jesus Charlie, the woman's been here now three days, she hardly knows you from Adam, AND she runs across a creepy guy in the woods. Just because you happened to be there like a lost puppy, waiting for her to come back, when she ran out of the woods freaked by some asshole doesn't make you her hero._

Shit.

I'd fucked this up. Yep. Hell, I was probably more of a stalker than the asshole was. Put both him and me together, and she's fucking scared out of her wits. Definitely scared of whatever happened in those woods, and most likely _terrified_ of me.

Then, what did I tell her on the phone. The convo replayed in my head, only it was like an ESPN highlight reel . . .

"_Fine, but I'm taking the day off tomorrow. I'll be out there by ten. I'm taking you . . ."_

"_But Charlie . . ."_

"_Don't argue with me."_

"_Uh, okay. But where are you taking me?"_

"_It's a surprise. Wear comfy, casual clothes. I'm just telling you because I know you're two seconds away from asking me what to wear. But it's all the info you're getting. You're mine for the day."_

Two of the sentences rolled across the bottom of the screen on continuous loop . . .

"_Don't argue with me."_

"_You're mine for the day."_

Fuck.

Could I have _been_ more in Chief mode? I tried to rationalize it in my mind. I had been worried, yes. More than worried. Frantic. The last time I felt that kind of panic was when Bella went missing in the woods after Edward left her. But I was frustrated, too, mostly because I wasn't there to handle the situation. I mean, I trusted my guys, but she had . . . a _nightmare_. And I wasn't there to wake her up, to hold her, to make it go away. All that put together, and voila, you get Chief Order-Me-Around Swan.

Still, some of it _had_ been leftover frustration. Leftover from her _asking_ to go back to her cabin. Alone.

I went back upstairs, took a quick shower, and put on some Levi's and a t-shirt. The weather was supposed to be good today, the sun shining. I'd called the station last night after bringing Catherine back, and left a message for Tracy that I was taking the day off. If all went well today, I would be taking the rest of the week off, too. All I could think of as I hung up the phone was how much I wanted to be with Catherine for the rest of her time here.

Now, though, I wasn't so sure she wanted to be with me.

I went back down to the kitchen to get my coffee and some toast. She hadn't called to say she didn't want to go. _Yet_. So that was in my favor. I tried to eat my breakfast and read the paper, but I read the first paragraph of the lead story three times and gave up. My head was a mess. _Why were women so damn impossible?_ No, Catherine wasn't like most women. There was something . . . else. I didn't know what it was, but I was damn sure gonna find out.

I needed to call Cora at the diner and have her fix up some sandwiches and stuff for lunch later. My plans for the day included something I knew she'd love, but I needed something extra. A little somein' somein'. I'd pick it up after I picked up the food at the diner.

I would make up for my, uh, behavior last night. Romance her.

_Yeah, romance the hell out of her. _

The big guns were coming out today, and I didn't mean the ones I owned that fired bullets. I smiled to myself. Perhaps a bit rusty, okay, but still there. Somewhere. Maybe. I'd be _charming_, or as close as I could be. Hell, I wasn't sure if I'd ever been charming in my life. Hopefully I could make up for being such a putz on the phone.

Somewhere inside my head, an annoying voice warned, _Don't fuck this up, Swan._

CathPOV

My eyes opened to light coming through the patio doors, and the realization hit that I hadn't had another nightmare.

_Thank God._ I looked at the clock. 7:00. Charlie would be here in three hours.

I rolled over and curled my legs up. Part of me wanted to see him so badly, I'd probably jump into his arms when he got here. But the other part, the rational part, the part that had been burned _so many times_ before, wanted to run, hide, send him away. This couldn't be possible, this _feeling_, after only knowing someone three days. Could it? The "L" word? Not that "_L"_ word. I wouldn't know it if Cupid himself shoved the arrow into my heart. The memory of the feeling was so distant. It had been hidden away years ago . . . for protection.

It could be the other one. I definitely _liked_ Charlie. A lot.

Maybe it was just another "L" word. Lust. My fingertips tingled as I remembered running them over the skin and hair on his chest, the feel of his tickly mustache on my face, his cool hand against my skin.

I had been close. So close.

Close to chucking it all and giving way to a night of endless and mindless fornication. Having him take me upstairs, rip my clothes off, rip _his_ clothes off . . . set me on _fire_. I could only imagine what he would do with that thing I felt trapped against my thigh.

_Sigh._

No, I didn't want to just be some one-night bang fest. Been there, done that.

I shoved my face into the pillow and felt a tear forming, a very familiar and unwanted emotion flooding through me.

Fear.

I was _scared_. Scared of what _I _was feeling, scared because I didn't have a clue what _he_ was feeling, and then there was the psycho. Was he really coming back? Was he really _waiting_ for me? I was only here for another week. What would I do when my vacation was over? What would _Charlie_ do? Just a quick peck on the cheek and a _'Have a safe trip home'_?

Safe. I brought my knees up to my chest and held them there. I didn't want to think about what could happen to me on the way home, without a nice police officer, without _Charlie_ there to . . .

Save me.

The words stung. I didn't need _saving_, well, not really. It was dumb luck that he'd stumbled upon me on the side of the road, even dumber luck that he was here when I ran out of the woods. Another "L" word. Luck. I'd never had much of it in my life, so his being there was truly a unique experience for me.

I let go of my knees and slowly sat up, pulling my hair out of the ponytail it was in. How was I going to make it through this day?

_Hell, I don't even know where we're going._

I through off the covers and ambled over to make some coffee. Coffee would definitely get my head back on straight. Hopefully. As soon as the dripping started, I peeked out the patio doors to see if my bodyguards were still out there. I saw Humphries, but not Jackson. He was probably walking around somewhere. I jumped in the shower, went through the usual routine, taking special care with shaving – just in case.

_Just in case?_ _Just in case _what_, Catherine?_

_Ah, shut up._ It never hurt to be prepared, so said the Girl Scouts.

My wet hair up in a towel, I opened the bathroom door while tying my favorite pink robe's sash, thinking how funny it was I even brought it . . .

"Um, hi," a male voice said shyly.

I yelped and jumped at the same time. He was standing there in jeans and a gray tee, holding out a bouquet of what looked to a mixture of pink roses, stargazer lilies, light pink stock, and pitta negra. I slowly measured the man in front of me, and the view of him in regular clothes. My tongue absentmindedly licked my bottom lip.

_Even better than the uniform._

He had come through the broken door and was standing midway between me and the doorway. I looked at the flowers as he took two steps forward to hand them to me, and instantly melted. Holding them up to my nose, I took a big whiff. I loved both pink roses _and_ stargazer lilies. But he couldn't have known that.

"Thank you. They're . . . they're beautiful." They were. He was. The universe was.

I started to walk over to the kitchen with them, when I realized I was in my very short robe, my wet hair in a towel. My mouth vomited the words in my head. "Jesus, Charlie, you're early!"

I didn't want to think about what he was thinking, now getting a nice view of my bare legs, and probably my ass peeking out from underneath what little material was covering it. I rummaged for some sort of receptacle I could use as a vase.

"You could've announced yourself. Something like 'Hey Catherine, I'm in your living room, don't come out naked' while I was still _in _the bathroom would've sufficed."

I settled on a very large plastic cup, put the flowers in, and proceeded to concentrate very hard on pouring coffee in two cups, without giving away that my hands were trembling.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just wanted . . . I just thought . . . maybe . . . you would've heard me. You know . . . checking out your door. It's pretty fuh, uh, messed up."

His stumbling ended my fake attempt at being perturbed, as I realized he was just as nervous as I was. I turned and smiled, bringing him a cup of courage as I took a drink of mine.

"Yes, your guys did a very thorough job of breaking in for a woman screaming. They should be commended."

His eyes went from the towel on my head down to my toes and back up, with that wonderful shit-grin of his plastered on his face. "Is that what you're wearing today?"

The heat radiating off my cheeks made me look elsewhere – out the window, down at the floor – anywhere but at him.

"Um, no. You told me to go casual, which is lucky because it's pretty much all I have." With burgeoning strength, I managed to look at him again, and pushed on his chest with the hand that wasn't holding my coffee. "So, if you wouldn't mind, would you take your ass and go out the way you came for a few minutes? Go have a chat with Humphries and Jackson. Tell them I said you should give them a promotion."

He grabbed my hand as I was pulling it back from his chest, and in a move worthy of Rhett Butler himself, brought it to his mouth and graced it with a feather-light kiss.

"You look adorable, by the way."

I hoped he didn't hear my heart flutter, nor my unintentionally gulp.

He had to be lying. I didn't even have a smidge of makeup on. "You, sir, either need more coffee, or a trip to the eye doctor." I pulled my hand from his and started back towards my suitcase.

"Git!" I ordered as I waved for him to get out. He was not seeing me naked. At least, not completely. Er, at least not yet, anyway.

I settled on dark olive cargoes and a pink polo, brushed my teeth, spent all of fifteen minutes on my hair and makeup, and was ready in record time. I grabbed my jean jacket, purse, iPhone, and put my ponytail holder on my wrist, just in case my hair got in the way of whatever we were doing. A vision of myself on top of Charlie with my hair falling down around his face stopped me mid-step.

_Nyugh. Must. Focus._

I walked through what was once my door and looked around. No one was in sight, so I walked to the right side of the cabin and peeked around the corner. Charlie was standing there, talking in a low voice to both Humphries and Jackson. It was a serious conversation, so I didn't say anything at first. Jackson nodded toward me, and Charlie's head turned.

"Hi," I said. "I'm ready when you are." I awkwardly walked toward them, because I knew I had interrupted something important.

"Catherine, you, uh, met Humphries and Jackson here last night."

Humphries was big, he was as tall as Charlie, but Jackson was bigger, bulkier. I hadn't noticed it last night, probably because Jackson was the one who'd knelt next to my bed and then went outside.

Humphries reached to shake my hand. "Please, call me Dan."

As he let go, Jackson took my hand to shake it. "And please call _me_ Ron."

Charlie took my hand then, but I couldn't decide if it was because he'd noticed my embarrassment, or if was something slightly more . . . possessive. "Yes, well, nice to meet you both. Thank you both immensely for, uh, putting up with me last night. I'm so sorry for being such a . . ."

"No problem, really. It's what we were here for." Humphries seemed sincere.

"You were here in case I woke up screaming from a nightmare?" I looked at Charlie questioningly.

"Well, no, but as long as you weren't screaming for any other reason," Jackson noted.

My head snapped back to look at Jackson, but my hand in Charlie's squeezed involuntarily.

"Yes, well, you guys must have other things to do now. Besides, I won't be here. We won't . . ."

"I'll check in with you guys later. You know what to do." Charlie cut me off and pulled me towards a very large, dark blue truck. _Truck! Yay, no squad car!_ It was a really big truck, though; the kind where I would literally have to bounce to hoist myself into the front seat.

He opened my door and asked, "Do you need a boost?"

_Yeah, so you can touch my ass._ "No, I think I can manage." I glimpsed his shaking head and half-grin as he started to walk away.

We both got situated, seatbelts on, and started to drive away. "Are you going to tell me what you three were talking about out there?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. They're getting your door fixed," he said, never taking his eyes off the road.

I didn't like that answer much. He was obviously not telling me something. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope."

I turned to look around the back of the truck, to maybe to see a clue. There was a basket in the back seat, but that's all I could get a look at before Charlie took my arm to pull me back around.

"Hey, no peeking."

_Hmmm._ "So there's stuff back there, clues, to where we're going?"

"Yes."

I spun around fast to get one last glimpse, but the bed of the truck was covered, and Charlie's hand on my shoulder effectively pushed me back around. _Damn._

"I really don't like surprises, you know," I said petulantly. Pretending.

"You _don't_?" His eyes shot to mine.

"Nope." I had him now.

"Oh." He glanced back at the road as he thought a moment, and seemed genuinely worried. "Well, I . . . I just thought . . . Seriously? I mean, I'll tell you where we're going if . . ."

I couldn't let him grovel any longer. I imitated his shit-grin, exposing my scheme.

"Aw, Charlie, I'm just messin' with ya. I don't care where we're going, as long as I'm with . . ."

_Double-damn._ I stopped myself, quickly putting my eyes forward, but I could feel him looking at me. I turned my head to look out my side window. I didn't want to finish that sentence, even though what I was going to say was true.

"Alrighty then," was all he said.

I was very intent on the scenery flying by, or so I acted, so I couldn't tell if he was still looking at me.

"By the way, although I completely appreciated the, uh, look of you this morning, you look beautiful now, too." My head whipped around to see his face, but he was concentrating very hard on the road in front of him. _Was that a faint pinkness on his cheeks? Was he actually _blushing_? Big Police Chief man?_

"Thanks." My reply was snarkier than I really had intended, but I went back to staring out my window. _What was he up to?_

We drove for awhile in silence, but I couldn't resist joking with him about the music he had on – Foreigner, "Feels Like the First Time". Classic rock. Classic for a classic. I didn't admit to liking it myself, only because I would have been ripping on my age as well. When I finally paid attention again, we were in Forks. At first, I thought we were just passing through, when I realized we were driving somewhere familiar, somewhere I'd been, just yesterday.

"Wait. What? I thought we were going someplace else." I _knew_ this street. "We're going to your _house_?" Now, _I_ was the one who was nervous.

"Just for a stop. You'll see why in a minute."

As we drove up, I saw the boat on the trailer. I hadn't remembered it being there last night. I guess I had been . . . a little preoccupied, and it was dark. We were going somewhere with a boat. I couldn't contain myself.

"Charlie, is that boat part of today's plans?"

He smiled. "Yes." I jumped up and down in my seat and clapped my hands. Okay, so I looked like a dork, but I didn't care.

"You stay here, and I'll get the boat."

He maneuvered the truck around, hooked up the boat to the hitch on the truck, and we were on our way again. We reached our destination not too long later, or what seemed like it, because I had fallen asleep. I was a terrible car passenger. I couldn't ever stay awake in a car if I wasn't driving it. Even if you threatened to zap me with electrical shocks.

I looked out the window at the most beautiful lake I'd ever seen. I got out to stretch my legs as Charlie put the boat in the dock and went to park the truck. He came walking back with a basket, some poles and a tackle box. I took the basket from him.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" I ran to the boat and set the basket in.

I watched as he hoisted one leg over, then the other, with all the gear in hand, getting a nice view of his ass once again. But I let my eyes travel away, taking in the magnificent boat. The interior was pristine white, the outside a flaming red, with the word "Tahoe" on it. I couldn't help but stand there and admire it for a minute.

"Here, take my hand."

I glanced down at his offered hand, following the muscles and tendons up his arm to the crooked grin on his face. I didn't need to take his hand, I was fully capable of getting into a boat, but the gesture touched something inside me, like a drop of water seeping into the tiniest crack of a cement wall. I reached out for it, pausing slightly before I took a step forward, and gave him a look.

"What?" He couldn't pull off innocent. In fact, I was getting the sneaky suspicion that he was trying hard. _Really hard._

I just shook my head and smiled. "Nothing."

God, I loved boats. Boats on water. Boats with handsome men in them. As we took off, I could tell the boat was built for speed, but since my knowledge of boats pretty much stopped at my dad's little one, I didn't have a clue what we were on. I got comfortable on one of the benches in the back, mostly to let Charlie take charge in driving. I could tell he was in his element. The lake was huge, easily the biggest I'd ever been on besides Lake Michigan. The water a blue like the most perfectly colored sapphire, with views on all sides of positively breathtaking mountains. Being a Flatlander, I loved any kind of mountain, anywhere. Even if they were an anthill, they were still fascinating.

Charlie finally stopped the boat in an area I presumed he was familiar with, got up from the driver's seat, and came back to join me.

"Um, Charlie?"

"Yeah." He had opened the tackle box and was seriously studying his options for lures to put on his pole.

"This doesn't seem like the kind of lake that you fish in with nightcrawlers and bobbers." I didn't want to sound stupid, but I noticed he didn't have anything that looked like a container of worms around.

He stopped what he was doing and just stared at me. I returned his stare, holding my pole, not knowing what to do. I'd never put a lure on my pole in my life – my dad always did it for me. But I could put a worm on myself . . .

He busted out laughing. He laughed for at least five minutes straight.

"What's so funny?"

He was still laughing and his answer came out it two syllables, "Youuu! Miss Nineteen-Inch-Large-Mouth-Bass. I'm starting to think that story was a bunch of bullsh . . . uh, made up." He stood up, took something out of his tackle box, and came over near me. "Here, do you know how to put this on?"

_Shit_. "Uh, no, I don't. My dad always did it." This time he only giggled as he sat down, took my pole, and proceeded to put some plastic-y thing on it.

"Do you know how to cast?"

"Yes!"

"All right, then have at it. Just don't accidentally hook me in the head, okay?"

He walked over to where he'd been, still chuckling, and finished up his pole. I took mine and cast it out the back of the boat, making sure not to come near him with my backswing. We were drifting, but that would keep it in a good spot. Really, what the hell did I know? Back home, I would cast my worm right into the shore, near rocks. That's where the big ones hid. Here, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but I wasn't going to tell him.

I watched as he casted and reeled in slowly. That's what my father used to do. He usually never caught a thing doing it, at least when I was with him.

"Am I supposed to be doing that too? I mean, rather than just letting it sit out there?" I broke down and asked the question.

"Yeah, you _can_. Do you know how?"

"Yes, dammit! And quit asking me if I know how to do stuff!" He was getting on my nerves, and his continuous chuckling at me didn't help matters.

We'd been out there an hour, and Charlie had caught I don't know what, some sort of trout, two of them. Bigger than I'd ever caught. Me? Nothing.

I retired my pole and became very content lying across the back bench seat. I watched him, although I tried to make it look like my eyes were closed and I was trying to get some sun.

"When was the last time you were fishing?" he suddenly asked.

I pretended to think for a moment, but I knew exactly how long it'd been. "Thirteen and a half years ago. Five months before he died. It was the last time he and I went." I said it matter-of-factly. "I caught two crappies, and he didn't catch a thing. I got so sunburned my ankles swelled up. It was the beginning of June, and I forgot to put on sunscreen."

"Sounds like you were quite a tomboy growing up," he teased.

"What do you mean _were_?" I countered.

"Doesn't your brother fish?" he asked as he casted back out.

"He did, and he has all my dad's stuff, but he hasn't since, either."

"Did he have a boat?"

I laughed. "Yeah, but nothing like this. He'd traded one of his paintings of a bass jumping out of the water for one."

"Your dad painted?"

"Yep. His boss also owned a fishing store, or something like that, so he traded the painting for the boat. The boat was pathetic, but he eventually fixed it up – fish-finder, trolling motor, beer holders, built-in cooler, everything he'd ever wanted. When he installed the fish finder, I told him it wasn't going to help." I laughed out loud at the memory.

It was suddenly quiet. I opened my eyes to see Charlie looking at me. He finished reeling in his cast, put his pole down, and came towards me. I sat up, crossed my legs in front of me, and made room for him on the seat. He plopped down next to me, leaned his head back over the side, and closed his eyes. I so wanted to put my head in his lap at that moment, but I didn't.

"Are you done?" I asked him.

"Hmmm. For now."

"Can I ask _you_ some questions, now?" I looked at him and his eyes were still closed.

"Sure. Shoot."

"How long have you been divorced?"

"Um, a little more than twenty years."

"Really? Bella's mom?"

"Yep."

"Where is she?"

"In Florida, with her husband."

"And you never, I mean, there wasn't anyone . . ." You'd think I'd be better at asking questions. For crying out loud, it was my job.

"No. Nothing serious."

"Why? I mean why did you . . ."

"Get divorced? She left me and took Bella with her. She . . . she didn't want to live in Forks. We got married real young, and really didn't know what the hell we were doing. Renee got pregnant, and well . . . you know small towns."

"Did you get to see Bella? I mean, when she was growing up?"

"Oh yeah. She would come stay with me in the summer for a few weeks at first, and then we met up in California a few times. When Renee married Phil, Bella moved back with me. Phil was playing minor-league baseball, and they were traveling all over. Bella just decided to live with me, and she's, uh, been here ever since."

"You were lucky. Lucky to have her, I mean. It's nice that she came back to live with you, for awhile anyway. How long has she been married? Bella, I mean."

"Uh . . . a few years."

"Wow, she must have been young when she married. You were okay with that? After you and Renee?"

He let out a long sigh. "Well, not really. But there really wasn't much I could do about it. Bella was, uh, old enough, and she had already threatened to move out anyway. She'd been through enough with this guy, and there wasn't much I could do to stop her."

"You're a very understanding father." I reached out to touch the top of his thigh, watching my hand as I did so. I moved it back and forth, noticing the rather hard quad muscle underneath it.

His head popped up. "You think? Cuz sometimes, I just don't know . . ." he trailed off as he laid his head back down and closed his eyes again. He seemed confused, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't relate. Having a daughter, an adult, married one was way out of my realm of experience or understanding.

I decided to change the subject. "Thank you for this. For today. It was . . . perfect."

I hadn't been fishing with anyone since Dad, and truly never thought I would again. He would have loved this boat . . . this lake . . . I felt a tear starting, but I took in a deep breath to get rid of it, focusing on my hand still resting on Charlie's thigh. He must have lifted his head again, because I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't look up. Movement under my hand told me he was sitting up, when suddenly his hand was on my cheek, sliding down to turn my face up to his. His chocolaty brown eyes were inches from mine.

"You're welcome," he whispered.

I lost control of the tear as it fell down onto his finger. He looked in my eyes, and then at my lips, pressing slowly closer until his lips met mine, simple and delicate. I leaned in further, my fingers digging into his thigh, as his mouth explored my top lip, then my bottom one. It was so soft, so tender, it nearly took my breath away. The touch of his forehead on mine as he pulled his lips away almost made me sigh.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, before I felt his calloused thumb wipe across my cheek, my face consciously leaning closer into his touch.

His low voice suddenly broke through the moment. "Are you hungry? I have a whole basket of food here from the diner."

"Yeah, I think I am," I said as he started to get up. "No, stay there. I'll get it." I was suddenly starving, but somewhat unnerved by the shockwaves his simple kiss had sent through me.

We ate, and then fished for another couple of hours. Well, Charlie fished. I fell asleep on the seat where I'd been earlier.

I woke to a hand gliding over my forehead and then back over my hair. "Hey, you." I opened my eyes to see Charlie on one knee next to me.

"What happened?" I slowly rose up onto my butt and looked around, disoriented. That had to have been top three of the top ten naps I'd ever taken.

"It's okay. I figured you needed some sleep. I caught a couple of more fish. What do you say we head back to my place and fry 'em up?"

"Um. Yes. Sure. That sounds terrific!"

I hoped I'd covered my sudden nervousness with my over-exuberant answer. We were going back to his place. Again.

We headed back to the dock, and I repacked the truck with all of the gear while Charlie got the boat onto the trailer and back out of the water. The ride home initially was quiet, but in a comfortable sort of way.

Out of the blue, Charlie suddenly asked, "Catherine, would you like to meet my daughter?" _There went the comfortable part._

"Um, sure. When?" He just asked me if I wanted me to meet Bella like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Probably tomorrow, but I'll have to call and check with her." _Geez-o-fuckin-peet._ As if I needed more to worry about.

CharliePOV

What a great day. What a fabulous day. And it wasn't even over. I was doing my best not to ruin the fish I was frying, and Catherine was in the living room, trying to figure out how to hook up her iPod to my stereo. At this point, I didn't care if she put on Barry Manilow, as long as she stayed here. With me.

I heard music drift in, music that I'd never heard coming from my stereo before. _What the? . . . _but even my un-trained ear recognized it. Music with no words. Classical.

"What is _this_?" I asked, faking ignorance.

"Oh, just a favorite mix of mine," she yelled from the living room.

I put the last pieces of fish onto the plate, and used the paper towels to wrap them to absorb some of the grease. I sensed her in the doorway, watching.

"So, uh, what song is this?" Like I was going to remember if she told me.

"This is the Elegiac Melody No. 2, Opus 34, also known as 'The Last Spring' by Grieg."

_What? _"Oh, okay. Hmmm." It was . . . kinda nice, actually.

From behind me in the doorway, she asked, "Are you sure there isn't anything I can do? Make the salad maybe? Pour the wine?"

I stopped what I was doing. I didn't have anything to make a salad, and I didn't have any wine. _Shit._ I usually just fried up the fish and ate it, along with my beer.

I heard her giggle, then felt her arms around my waist. "I'm joking, silly. I don't really much like wine. Just fish is just fine with me." I turned around to face her.

"You are cruel, you know that? You almost gave me a stroke."

"Well then, at least let me get the beer and set the table." I took a deep breath as she giggled and flitted over to the fridge.

I put the fish on the table, while Catherine gathered up everything else. I was amazed to see how quickly she figured out where everything was in the kitchen. We sat down, and I secretly watched her take the first bite.

"God, this is really good."

Her eyes were closed, as if she were savoring every bite. I couldn't help but be proud of myself. It was so rare I did anything right in the kitchen. I tried not to stare, but I didn't want to take my eyes from her. She _really_ liked the fish. In my world, anything deep fried was bound to be good, but still, you never really knew what it's going to be like for someone else. I couldn't wait to tell Bella I had cooked a meal for a woman, didn't ruin it, _and_ she'd liked it!

We did the dishes together, although she had insisted on doing them herself at first. "The person who cooks doesn't have to clean. At least it's that way in my house."

"You're house? Who lives there besides you?" She grew very quiet then.

"No one. I just meant that's what . . . oh nevermind."

We finished up in silence, and Catherine went into the living room. I stayed behind to put the last of the dishes away. I had said something wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. I could tell her mood had shifted from the playful Catherine she had been earlier, though. I walked to the kitchen doorway, and watched her a few seconds as she stared out the front window. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to, but as I walked closer, I wrapped my arms around her waist. Her flinch was quick, but I felt it.

"Where did you go?" I softly asked into her ear.

"Nowhere in particular." She pulled away then, and walked across to the end of the couch, her back turned to me.

Uh oh. Something had happened. Something had changed. I didn't know how or why, but a wiggly feeling in my gut said I wasn't going to like it.

"Charlie, I. . . what are we doing? This . . . oh, I don't know. I just don't think I can . . . _do _this. Oh, I don't know _what_ I'm . . ."

Her arms wrapped around her middle, a maneuver I was quickly beginning to recognize and understand – a classic tell. Her attempt to build a physical wall around her. A seemingly impenetrable wall she took comfort in. A wall I needed to break through, if I was going to have a chance. If _we_ were going to have a chance.

"What do you mean? I thought we were just having dinner . . ." She didn't turn back to me. I needed to salvage this, I needed . . .

"Catherine, please." I slowly went to stand behind her and enveloped her in my arms again. "What's wrong? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything. It's me. All me."

"Tell me," I whispered in her ear. "Tell me what's wrong. What . . . what happened . . . to you?"

She turned to me then, with her head in my chest, as if embarrassed to look at me. But she stayed in my arms, a fact that didn't go unnoticed. I wanted to hold her and take away whatever it was, shift it to myself if I could. I felt her shoulders rise, and knew I'd see tears once she was brave enough to bring her beautiful blue-gray eyes to mine.

"I . . . I don't believe in this. I don't believe in what I'm feeling. I . . . I don't believe in . . ." She didn't finish, but looked up at me then, and the tears were free-falling. I took a chance and wiped her cheek with my fingers.

"Don't believe in what? Fish fries? A man cooking for you?" I tried to lighten the mood, but failed miserably. She brought her hands to my chest, and pushed me away with such strength I braced myself by moving back my leg. Dammit, I had pissed her off.

"I don't believe in luh . . . in _this_."

She didn't have to say it. I knew what word was going to come out of her mouth.

"What woman doesn't believe in . . . in _that_?" I couldn't say it either, but I wanted to know why. Something told me that I was about to find out.

She walked farther away, keeping her back to me. This time, I stayed where I was. "Charlie, I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I'm just saying that it doesn't exist _for me_."

With a long sigh, she continued, "When I was young, it was all I dreamed about, all I wished for. What girl doesn't? The fantasy of the wonderful boyfriend, the beautiful wedding, the . . . the happy ever-after. I thought I'd found him. He . . . he was everything - charming, handsome, intelligent." She sniffed. "Even wealthy."

She started to pace. "I knew he loved me, for awhile anyway. I pushed him away. I pushed him away until it was too late. By the time I had figured out my own feelings . . . I needed someone to talk to, someone who might understand, so I told my _best_ friend. Yeah, right. I told her that I'd finally realized how I really felt, and I was going to tell him. I already knew he felt the same about me. I was visiting her at school, right before the holidays. We were drinking, higher than kites." She hesitated, and I knew why. She'd just divulged to a cop that she had smoked pot. I would have chuckled if it were any other moment. Any _other_ conversation.

I pretended it didn't register and let her continue. "I told her I was going to talk to him when we went home for Christmas break – tell him, get everything out. Finally. It needed to be in person, you know?" She turned to me then, and I just nodded.

She went back to pacing. "But . . . but after I finished spilling my guts to her, she clammed up. I asked her why she was so quiet and acting so weird. After a long silence, she revealed rather proudly that she'd slept with him. The Cheshire-cat grin on her face when she said it . . . I'll never forget it. She had done it on purpose. To spite me. I'd always had suspicions that she was jealous of what he and I had, I just hadn't realized how much. I grabbed my stuff, walked out of her dorm room, and never spoke to her again."

I went to take a step forward toward her, but she held her hand up. "No, stop. Please, sit down. I need to get through . . . I need to tell you." I sat back on the couch.

She turned and faced the opposite wall, with her back to me again. "There were others, but never like him. Oh, I went through the motions, but I never let them in. Because always in the back of my mind, there was the hope that he would find his way back to me. That _he_ would come looking for _me_. I never spoke to that bitch again, except for when she had the audacity to show up at my dad's wake. But he, him, the hope was always there that someday . . ."

I chanced the question that was gnawing at me. "What happened to him?"

"Two years ago, I attempted to contact him. Thought maybe fate needed a little nudge. So I sent him an email. He replied that he'd just gotten married and had a son. With that email went all my hopes. I had wasted fifteen years on a man who was never coming back to me."

She paused to wipe her own eyes. I so wanted to go to her, to hold her and make the pain all go away. But I stayed where I was. I could tell there was more.

She started to pace again. "In the midst of waiting for _him_, I reconnected with an old high school friend. Actually, we'd known each other since kindergarten. He and I never had anything in high school or college, but he was living not too far from me, and we just hit it off. We were friends first, just going to movies, hanging out with other friends, and it was . . . nice. We'd said we were like the movie 'When Harry Met Sally' before things got all weird when they got romantic. He knew everything about the other guy, because we'd all been friends in high school. In fact, he and I would sit for hours and just talk about our horrible romantic exploits.

"And then, oh I don't know, he went and got all weird! He said that through all of his searching, he'd come to realize what he wanted was sitting right in front of him. He said I was the one he'd been looking for, blah, blah, blah. Like an _idiot_, I fell for it – hook, line, and sinker. I let my guard down. I _actually_ let him in, thinking maybe, just maybe . . . But it was just a blatant attempt to get in my pants, which unfortunately worked. A week later, I came over to surprise him after work, and I noticed a strange car in the driveway. I knew the minute I saw stuffed animals on the back dash it wasn't going to be good. But I charged right up to the front door and laid on the doorbell. Then, when he didn't answer, I started to pound on the door. I knew the asshole was inside; there was bad smooth jazz playing on his living room stereo. He came to the door and wouldn't open it. His words were, 'You don't want me to open the door right now.' To which I said, 'Why? What are you, buck naked?' He didn't respond. I walked back to my car and laid a patch on the road in front of his driveway."

She stopped pacing and looked at the floor. "But it's not just . . . it's not just _that_. It's seeing everything my parents had, and everything they gave their children. And then, at fifty-six, a heart attack ripped them apart. I watched my mother in a haze for a year. She didn't want to live without him, and if it weren't for us, her kids, I don't know if she would have. He . . . he was the best man I've ever known."

Suddenly her shoulders hunched forward. The sobs were so strong she could hardly speak. "D-don't you see, Charlie? People I l-love . . . either l-leave . . . or d-die."

I couldn't stay seated any longer. I ran to her and wrapped her in the safety of my arms, rocking her and softly saying, "Catherine, Catherine. . ."

"No, Charlie. If I . . . g-give in to this. If I . . . d-dare to hope . . ."

I turned her then so I could see her tear-filled eyes, and said with as much conviction as my breaking voice would allow, "Catherine, I'm not going to cheat on you. I will never, _ever_, hurt you. And I'm not going to die. At least, not anytime soon, I hope." I didn't know where it came from. I didn't know I had it in me. But every word was true.

"Yeah, you say that _now_, while I'm blubbering like an idiot. I've known you three days. _Three_ days. And Charlie, you're . . . you're a cop. A _cop_. I mean, it's not like you have the safest job in the wor . . ."

My lips met hers before she finished what I knew she was going to say. I kissed her with all the passion that I had in me, if only to make her feel everything I hoped my words had just conveyed. To take away any ounce of doubt she had.

Her arms hesitantly slid from my chest to around my neck, and I felt a swell of hope go through me. I gathered her up into my arms and brought her to the couch. I don't know how long we sat like that – her on my lap with her head on my shoulder, my hand softly rubbing her arm, her tears soaking through my t-shirt. All I knew is that I would stay like that for as long as she needed.

"Charlie?"

"Hmmm."

"I've never . . . told anyone all that. Thank you. Thank you for . . . listening to all of it. To think, I've only known you for a few days. You must think I'm a complete head case. I _am_ a complete head case. And, without a doubt, the _worst_ date _ever_." She'd attempted to bury her face and mortification in my shoulder, so that last part came out muffled.

I tugged lightly at her chin to turn her eyes to mine. "You are most definitely not the worst date ever." I kissed her lightly to emphasize the point.

"I don't know why you're bothering with me. You'll probably just take me back to the cabin, and I'll never hear from you again."

I ran my fingers into her hair, and pulled her closer. "You're not going to be able to get rid of me that easy, Miss O'Hara."

Her lips opened as if to protest, but I didn't let her, bringing my mouth to hers, holding her to me with my hand still in her hair. I wanted her, more than I could tell her with words. I didn't know how or why or when it had even happened, I just knew. Our tongues met and danced as whatever it was between us overtook her as well, her body betraying her mind as she sat up to face me, her legs spreading across my lap. I slowly brought my fingers up her shirt to touch her smooth skin. She moaned as they found their way to her back, undoing the hooks of her bra. Her mouth left mine briefly, breathing in, as I touched her breast, cupping it in my hand, my mouth desperate to find it, but I didn't want to rip her shirt off. My thumb traced across her nipple, feeling it harden in response, as she threw her head back.

"Charlie . . ."

I tasted her skin as I ran my tongue down her neck, to the little hollow that was left bare by the opening of her shirt, pulling it to her shoulder as my lips sucked and my tongue licked over her bare skin. Charlie, Jr. had perked up, and I was sure the bulge in my jeans was as evident to her as it was to me. I felt her fingers in my hair, winding and massaging, sending little jolts through me. God, I loved the feeling of her hands in my hair, her fingers kneading, pressing my face closer to hers. I brought my mouth back to hers, and the sudden thrusting in and out of her tongue made me think of thrusting in and out of her elsewhere. Her hands then slowly glided to my shoulders and down to my chest, when all of sudden, she pushed away, her elbows locked to keep me from getting closer again.

"What's the matter?"

I sounded like I'd just run ten miles. She was panting, too. I suddenly remembered my goal for the day – to be a gentleman and not a horndog. Her eyes were on my chest as her emotions ran over her face, confusion and embarrassment the ones I recognized. She was waiting for me to react. She wanted _me_ to be the one to say it.

_Damn it all to hell._ _I was sooo whipped._

But I knew what I had to do. So I said what she wanted me to say. "I think I'd better take you back to the cabin." Her head dropped down, hiding her face, but her shoulders lifted and dropped. _Did I do that right? Was it what she wanted?_

"Catherine, look at me." Her eyes slowly rose to mine, filled with embarrassment, leftover passion, and a bunch of other things I couldn't recognize. "I . . . I want you to stay. Please know that. But we can do this your way."

She must've lost all strength in her arms. because she collapsed forward, putting her head on my shoulder. I could feel her breath against my neck.

"No, you're right. I need to go."

I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing the small of her back with one of my hands. I didn't want to be right. I wanted to be very, very _wrong_. Upstairs. This girl, this woman, was making me . . . Absolutely. Fucking. Crazy. I brought one hand to the back of her head and ran it through her curls. They were soft, just like her, and smelled like . . . lemon.

"Charlie?"

"Hmm?"

She popped her head up to look me in the eyes. "Contrary to what you might be, uh, thinking right now, this was a great day. For me. Thank you for . . . for everything," she said softly, and planted a long, slow kiss, which ended with her tugging lightly on my bottom lip.

"Really, woman, you don't know when to stop." She smiled, but her partly-resistant slide off my lap said my joke wasn't far off the mark. Something told me if I kept at it . . .

_No, Swan. Remember. You're attempting to be charming today. A gentlemen._

_Shut the fuck up._

She walked towards the door, re-hooking her bra. I caught her before she could get too far, and pulled her back into my arms.

I brushed my fingers through that hair, those curls that I couldn't get enough of, to hold the back of her neck. I wanted to say something, to tell her that I thought . . . that was incredible . . . that _she_ was incredible . . . that she made me feel . . . well, _something_. But it all became a jumbled mess as I stared into those stormy blues of hers.

"What?" she asked nervously.

"Na . . . nothing." _Bravo, Romeo._

She laughed out loud as she pulled away from me, grabbed her purse and jacket, and walked out the front door.

I stared after her for a full five seconds before I grabbed my coat and found my keys. I realized she'd forgotten her phone, and went over to the stereo to get it. I needed to call Humphries and Jackson to tell them to get back to the cabin. Man, I was going to get some serious shit from them.

DamianPOV

It took every ounce of control I possessed to remain hidden as I observed her leaving the domicile initially alone. Alone. My surveillance of the day, particularly the past few hours, was slow torture. Her intimate scent nearly overtook me, even at this distance. My mind and body both ached to make her that aroused for _me_. For her to beg for _me_. Oh, and she would, eventually. She would beg and plead for me to take her, to ravish her.

I glowered at the auto as it powered away. The unobstructed vision of Charlie Swan's hands where _my_ hands should be. The usurper's mouth where _my_ mouth should be. The visions prompted an agitation so palpable, the tremors that racked my body provoked an audible scream. As I did so, I realized I had released my cloaking, but it mattered not. Catherine would submit. Ultimately, it would be my hands over her. My hands, my lips, my teeth.

I wanted to tear Charlie Swan apart, starting with the appendage that came so close to violating her. Fortune had saved him this night. The lothario had ceased his advances just as I had nearly lost the battle against killing him outright. But the domicile was no place for what I had in mind. The neighbors could perchance overhear. I returned my cloaking and moved out of the shadows. I found solace in that fact that once I made Catherine mine, her life sucked out of her to become one with me, there would be no more Charlie. But the timetable, the delay that I had set upon myself, was proving more arduous.

**A/N:**

This chapter is a tiny-bit close to my heart. I'll leave it at that.


	9. Chapter 9

This is the one some of you have been waiting for.

One that was rather difficult to write.

**Warning, sensitive subject matter ahead.**

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**Chapter 9**

Rachmaninoff, Prélude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2

BellaPOV

I sat in my usual spot, on the one of the chairs in the cozy living room. It was a rare moment this room was empty - usually there were some of us in it at various points in the day, doing _something_. But tonight, everyone else was out or about. I tried hard not to listen where. I was getting better at not "hearing" them all of the time, or at least trying my best, but I'd overheard Emmett and Rosalie's plans by accident. Plans that involved some remote mountain ledge and a lot of distance from the rest of us. At least they wouldn't break anymore of Esme's furniture.

For some reason, I'd decided to start a book, one I had read before, and yet again, I couldn't put it down. I thought reading it again might give me some more perspective on Jasper and the Civil War. While _Gone With the Wind_ had plenty of history, it was the romance that kept calling me back; Scarlett's denial of the love for family and friends that she in fact possessed, but ultimately her inability to see love until it was too late.

Of course, I'd seen the movie, but movies were never as good as the books that preceded them. Edward, Renesmee, and I had made an evening of it a few months ago, Renesmee even making popcorn for herself. Although she needed to eat human food along with feeding on animals with the rest of us, she'd never quite acquired a sincere liking for it. She ate dutifully, and I made sure her meals were healthy, using recipes and the skills from when I was human. But popcorn... she loved popcorn.

Renesmee was at that age where romantic dramas or comedies were all she wanted to watch, much to Edward's dismay. She'd ask him to join her sometimes, mostly when it was a comedy, or when Jacob wasn't with us. She wasn't comfortable watching some of the "mushy" stuff, as she put it, with her father in the room. Edward wasn't either, but I loved it immensely, especially when I'd see his face twist up. Still, he never said no to her if she asked. He _rarely_, if ever, said no to her. Neither did Jake, for that matter.

Renesmee. She was probably wondering what had happened to me, and Edward, if she wasn't already asleep. Usually at this time of night, we found ourselves together in the cottage, someone helping Renesmee with homework, she and Jake watching TV - and Edward watching them, or Renesmee hiding in her room. She was so beautiful, more beautiful than I'd ever been, with Edward wrapped around her finger, as I knew he would be, from that first moment - the moment he had _heard_ her.

I'd dropped my book to my lap and was contemplating my contentment with the last six years, when Alice's cry of "Bella!" pierced through me.

She flew down the stairs in a whir, my vampire eyes almost didn't see her, and dropped to her knees in front of me. Her hands took mine in almost a death grip, her eyes staring just beyond me, glossing over - the look that told me she was having one of her visions. Alice's scream of my name and her appearance in front of me in less than a blink of an eye, created a sudden panic in the pit of my stomach, a panic I hadn't felt in years. Edward was at my side almost as instantaneously, which I knew meant he'd already seen it, too.

"Alice! I don't think Bella should see this." He had, but I didn't like his assumption.

"Edward, please don't speak for me. Alice, what is it?" Edward knew better, but he still tried to protect me, even now. He stood next to me, touching my arm with an intensity that ripped to shred any doubt that this was going to be bad.

"Alice. Who _is_ that?" Edward's flinch was subtle, but I felt it. He stared at her now, too.

"What? Is it Renesmee?" I hated when they did this. I pushed my shield over both of them, to see exactly what they were seeing. I had practiced what I'd learned from Zafrina enough over the last few years that I was able to accomplish it with minimal effort. I could share my thoughts with my family, if I so chose, but also see into their mind, as well. I didn't like doing it, and I didn't do it often, except with Edward.

It was a woman. She was talking to . . . Charlie! They were walking hand in hand, laughing in the moonlight. It was a romantic moment. I was trespassing on a romantic moment between my father and some woman. _That's_ what panicked Alice?

"Alice, really. Charlie can see whoever he wants to see. . ."

"Keep _watching_," Alice said through clenched teeth. I sensed Edward's growing discomfort.

But wait. There was s_omething_ _else_ just on the periphery of the vision. Something . . . hovering. It was like a ripple of water, or a wavy pane of glass. I could see _through_ it, but it was . . . blurred.

Where were they? It looked like Forks, or at least somewhere near the area. I could see trees, a forest. The vision turned, and I saw the coast - they were walking toward a beach, but it wasn't First Beach, and there was no one else around. Suddenly, they both turned back. Something had made a noise. An animal?

Charlie grasped both of her hands, spoke something softly to her, which sounded like, "Go back in the cabin," and turned to head toward what I could only assume was the noise. The ripple disappeared as though it was following Charlie, but neither he nor the woman spotted it.

She paused one moment too long to stare after him and said, "But Charlie . . ."

The woman stood alone near a short, split-rail fence. I had the urge to yell, _Wait Dad! Don't leave her alone!_ and as the words would have come out of my mouth, the ripple appeared next to her, suddenly clearing . . . dissolving into . . . It was a man! My instincts said he was one of _us_, but I couldn't see his face. The hoodie he wore darkened his features, even in the moonlight.

The woman jumped as he invaded her personal space without a sound, without warning. Her shock turned to fear as he spoke what seemed to be reassuring words. But ultimately, her expression turned from recognition to . . . terror. He reached out and caressed her face with the back of his hand, sliding it slowly down her throat and then over her left breast. He fondled it, spreading his fingers, squeezing, pressing . . . Something told me it wasn't her breast he was after, but the feeling of her heartbeat beneath it. She didn't move. She didn't scream. She couldn't.

Where was Charlie?

The man raised his other hand to grab a handful of the woman's hair, pulling it sharply back, giving him precisely the perfect angle to that most precious artery on her neck. His nose brushed her skin as he sniffed the path it took, as if the fragrance was the finest wine, the sweetest perfume. The woman didn't make a sound, but her hands came up to his chest in a meager attempt to push him away. Her legs began to give out, and he caught her in time to actually lay her gently on the ground, seemingly worshipping her as his arm guided her down.

He put his hand on the neck of her shirt, and ripped downward, all the way through to her underwear. The front of her was completely naked to him, the action waking her from whatever dream-like state she had been in. She tried to scream, tried to scamper away on her hands and feet, but she had no idea what she was dealing with. He was too fast.

As if he finally realized her attempt to attract attention, his mouth captured hers, silencing whatever sound she had tried to make. He pinned her arms above her with one hand, while running his other hand down between her legs, his fingers touching her, goading her, entering her, as a muffled wail escaped her. The sound only seemed to excite him more, and his hand trailed back up, stopping at her breast, this time squeezing and twisting so hard, I thought he would rip it off.

I knew then why Edward didn't want me to see this. This _vampire_ . . . he was going to rape her. I felt my hands reach out to throw him off her, to rip him to pieces myself. I struggled with the urge to turn it off, to bring my shield back, but Alice squeezed my hand, signaling me to stay with them.

And then it began. He drove into her, and the force with which he did so made me cry out. My hand flew to Edward's, nearly crushing it in my grip. The power behind his thrusts was nearly tearing her in two, and with each, her moans grew softer, the pain seemingly taking over any will to fight.

She was all but unconscious, probably would have been, but amidst his violation, she managed to call out, "Char . . . lie."

It was a broken whisper, but I could make it out, as if some thought of my Dad helped to withdraw her conscious mind from the sheer torture the creature inflicted. But the mere name fueled his fury. I wanted to cry for her. I wanted to help her. Whoever this person, this thing, was, he was out of control. Insane. The force at which he took her, just shy of killing her, made my insides feel her pain.

His abuse of her body swiftly ended, but he wasn't finished with her. He let her arms go and sat back on his knees, studying her, scrutinizing every inch of her as if committing it to memory.

She was still _alive_.

Then suddenly, he planted his hands on each side of her face, hovering over her, saying . . . something. He lowered himself until he was right above her neck, admiring it, nuzzling it with his nose, until his face was inches from hers, his eyes wandering her forehead, her cheeks, her mouth, until finally almost willing her eyes to open and look at him.

She whispered, "Please . . . st-stop."

His lips drew back in a snarl . . . and then lunged at her neck.

But in his bite wasn't the insatiable frenzy that would overtake just any vampire, any newborn. He seemed to be prolonging it - whether it was for his pleasure or her agony, I couldn't tell. His mouth followed a path down over every portion of her nakedness, biting the swell of her breast, the concave of her stomach, the inside of her thigh. With each bite, he took an interminably long drink. But with each bite, he also released his venom. Was he making her one of us? No, because he'd not once licked her wounds closed.

All of a sudden, she regained what little strength she had, and through clenched teeth produced what could only be described as an "eeeee" sound. He quickly brought his mouth back to hers, suffocating her pleas. His kiss was almost reverent at first, but then painful when she continued to try to scream. Her hands were now weakly pushing at his chest, but her legs completely still. Something, somewhere, must be broken, crushed, from his earlier onslaught.

I remembered the burning of the venom, and couldn't fathom how she was still alive, let alone how she found the will to fight. He left her lips, and slowly licked a path to reclaim the sweet spot on her neck. He drank greedily, insatiably, her life fading with every ounce he took. Her arms gradually lost what strength they had, and slid slowly down beside her. Her eyelids fluttered in the last moments, and then closed.

He'd drained her.

Lifting his head, he wiped his mouth with the arm of his sweatshirt, his eyes darting around as if making sure no one saw. Suddenly, he disappeared, but not seconds later, returned with something across his shoulder. Some_one _across his shoulder. He laid the person next to the woman, and as he did so, I was able to see . . . who it was . . . he was dead . . . it was . . .

_Charlie!_

The vision went black.

"DAD! Oh my God!" I screamed and shot off the chair, my hands escaping Alice's grasp, but Edward's hands caught my shoulders, pulling me to him.

"Bella!" He turned me towards him.

I screamed into his chest. "No! NOOOO! This can't happen. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN!" I spun around to face Alice, but Edward kept his arms around me.

"Alice, who _was_ that? Who was the woman? Why was my Dad with her? Why her? Why _Charlie_?" I felt my knees buckle, but Edward caught me before I went down. My knees hadn't done that since I was human.

"I, I d-don't know. That's-s all I saw." Jasper came hurling down the stairs to kneel next to her, Alice collapsing into his arms.

I turned back to my husband. "Edward, what does this _mean_? Who was that guy? Have you seen him before? This . . . this can't be happening again!" I was almost breathless with the speed that the words flew from my mouth. That is, if I'd still needed to breathe.

"Alice? _Sweetheart!_ _Speak_ to me! Edward, what did she see?" Alice looked nearly catatonic, but I ignored Jasper's question, and his glance at Edward.

"Alice, when is this? How much time do we have?" She _must_ know. She_ had_ to be able to . . .

Edward scooped me up into his arms then, and brought me to the couch. I was on the verge of some sort of vampire panic attack, and Edward felt it as much as I did. His one arm stayed around me as his soft kisses and shushes in my ear tried to calm me, and his other hand gently brushed through my hair.

I suddenly realized that my rapid screaming of questions at Alice must have seemed like an attack on her, and the shock of my actions made me whip my head towards hers. She was as much affected and afraid as I was, the special bond she had with Charlie nearly like that of hers and Carlisle's. Jasper had her cradled in his arms, rocking her back and forth.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I didn't mean to . . ." My eyes pleaded for her forgiveness, as the faraway gaze left her face, and she turned to me.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry. I . . . I just don't know anymore than we all saw. It just sort-of . . . came out of nowhere. I've never seen Charlie, or this woman, in a vision before." What could only be called a dry sob escaped her lips, since neither one of us could produce the tears we so desperately wanted to shed.

"Oh,_ Jazz _. . ." Alice flung her arm around Jasper, clutching the back of his neck, and burying her face into his chest. His hand pulled her to him, rubbing the center of her back.

I turned to look at Edward. "We . . . we can't let this happen. _Please_, Edward. Just because Alice saw it, doesn't necessarily mean it will be so. We have to _do_ something. But _what_ can we do?" I put my head to his chest, and he held me tighter.

Edward's pause should have told me what he hesitated to say out loud. His unnecessary deep breath did.

"I don't know," he finally said.

The phone was ringing. The _phone_ was ringing. The only people who called were Charlie, looking for me, and Billy Black, looking for Jake. Carlisle called down from the top of the stairs. "Bella, it's for you. It's Charlie."

I looked at Edward, and then at Alice and Jasper, and deftly removed myself from Edward's arms and lap. Why was Charlie calling so late at night? It's not like he knew I wouldn't be sleeping.

No, it was good that he was calling. I had to compose myself. Charlie calling meant he was still alive. That he wasn't on a beach somewhere with . . . I ran into the kitchen and yanked the phone off the hook.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Bells, it's me . . . You okay?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine. Just ran to the phone, that's all." I was amazed that Charlie even picked up on my state.

"Oh, okay. Listen, I'm sorry it's so late, but I was wondering what you were doing tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Um, just Renesmee's lessons, and then, well, you know the usual. Why?"

"Well, because there's someone I want you to meet. I mean, I've met someone, and I'd like her to meet you. I mean . . . aw crap. Are you free, for say lunch tomorrow?" He sounded happy, happier than I'd heard him in . . . forever.

"Yeah, sure. How about I come over to your house? I'll, uh, bring the food." Coming here? With an unsuspecting human? Not a good idea.

"That sounds great, Bells. Hey, thanks. I can't wait for you to meet her." I could hear his smile through the phone.

"Dad?

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm driving home." He was driving home. He wasn't near a beach with a woman. I let out a sigh.

"Oh, and Dad, um, who is this woman?"

"Just someone I met. Her name is Catherine. Catherine O'Hara." He laughed to himself. "Bells, she's, uh, special, if you know what I mean."

"I think I do. Um, Dad, did you say Catherine _O'Hara_? Like in _Gone With the Wind_?"

"Yeah, that's her name. Like in where?" I should have known Charlie wouldn't have a clue.

"Nevermind. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? And Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"_Please_ . . . please be careful." I'd never meant the words more than I did at that moment.

"Always am, Bells."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and let the conversation digest for a moment. Charlie had met a woman he wanted me to meet. He seemed . . . excited, elated, . . . in love. He would never ask me to lunch with her if she wasn't _important_.

This was the woman. The woman in Alice's vision. It had to be. And her name was Catherine O'Hara. The coincidence . . .

I walked back into the living room, lost in thought, and biting my lower lip like I used to do, years ago. Carlisle and Esme undoubtedly heard me scream earlier, and were now with Edward, Alice, and Jasper. Jasper had moved to the chair, Alice still his arms. They were already discussing the vision.

They'd all heard my conversation with Charlie, but Edward was the one to replay it out loud. "So, Charlie's met someone, and he wants you to meet her. It's definitely the same woman, Bella." I walked to the back of the couch and put my hands on Edward's shoulders. He brought one hand up to hold mine.

"What did she look like, in the vision?" Esme asked. She was sitting on the armrest of the other chair Carlisle was in, holding his hand. Even in crisis mode, we attempted humanly affectations.

"She was about 5' 7", medium build, had pretty, long, brown, curly hair with highlights, blue eyes, pale skin, jeans, a plain gray-blue v-neck tee, with a denim jacket over it." Only Alice could give a description like that.

"Has anyone seen her before?" Jasper asked the room.

"No." Everyone said in unison.

Carlisle finally jumped into the foray. "Bella, it's good that you're going there for lunch tomorrow. It really wouldn't be a good idea for Charlie to bring her here, and if what Alice just saw is the case, going with them to a public place isn't a good idea either."

Just then, Emmett burst through the patio doors, carrying Rosalie as if he were crossing the threshold with her for the first time. "Heeey peeps!" Looking at all of us, his boisterousness faded, along with his smile, and he set Rose down on her feet.

Rosalie glanced around the room and said, "Geez, who died?"

"Rose," Esme admonished her.

Emmett caught the vibe of the room. "What the hell happened?" He took Rosalie's hand and pulled her closer to the rest of us.

Edward finally spoke. "Alice had a vision. A vision of Charlie and some woman, who we now know is named Catherine. Someone, someone like us, kills Charlie, and then the woman. Rather, he kills Charlie outright, and then tortures and . . . rapes the woman before . . ."

"Draining her," Jasper finished.

I squeezed Edward's shoulders as the words left Jasper's mouth. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalie clutch Emmett's arm. "Whaaat?" Emmett's scream would've woken the neighbor if we'd had any.

Carlisle chose to continue. "Yes, and Charlie just called to invite Bella to lunch tomorrow to meet the woman. Catherine O'Hara. He called right after the vision."

Rose came over to me then and took my shoulders.

"Bella, you know we won't let this happen, right? _Right_?" She wrapped me in a hug that had more emotion, more certainty, than I had ever felt from Rose. "I mean, there are eight of us, and it sounds like just one of him. It'll be easier than even James."

Yes, James. She sounded so sure. There had been seven of them then, and one little ole clumsy, stubborn human. Me. I wanted to believe her.

Rosalie let me go, and quickly made her way back to Emmett, into his waiting arms. He knew what she was thinking. Everyone knew.

But I blurted out the questions that no one seemed to want to ask. "But why? Why _her_? And why _Charlie_? He doesn't know anything. Well, not really. And Alice, you said she had blue eyes, so she's human. Charlie said he only just _met_ her. Could she be this guy's singer? And . . . and Charlie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" I threw the questions out to no one in particular.

Emmett dared an answer. "Bella, I hate to say it, but I don't think so. I think it's more than that. If she were his singer, he wouldn't have taken the time to . . . I mean, he would've just . . ."

Edward's head snapped towards Emmett, meeting his stare, but neither said a word. I rubbed Edward's shoulders to relieve the tension of what I knew he was remembering: His struggle with himself when I was still human.

Just then, Jacob came through the patio doors. He had on the typical cut-off sweats and no-shirt uniform of a wolf who had morphed rather quickly back to human. "Hey, everyone. I saw you all sitting here through the windows as I was making my rounds. What's going on?"

"Jake, where's Renesmee?" I was suddenly very concerned about my daughter's whereabouts.

"She's at the cottage. Why?" Jacob said confused.

"Bella, don't worry. She's sleeping. I can see her dreaming." Edward had risen from the couch to stand behind me, his arms around me now.

Jacob inched forward, his frustration growing. "Why? What _happened_? Will someone just _tell_ me?"

Edward proceeded to retell the vision, this time completing himself what he couldn't the first time.

"Charlie? Holy shh . . . sorry Esme. What'd he do? Why _Charlie_? Who's the woman?"

"We don't know. Someone he just met. I'm going to have lunch with them tomorrow. Hopefully," I answered in rapid succession. The instant hopefully came out of my mouth, I wanted to take it back.

"Dude, you guys haven't come across any of us, have you?" asked Emmett.

"No, you'd know if we did. That's weird. You guys think he's hanging around?"

"We don't know, but my guess is yes," Jasper answered. "But what's really botherin' me is how he just _appeared_ in the beginning of the vision."

I felt Edward stand straighter behind me. "Yes, good question. Why was he obscured initially, and then in full view, full view of us, when he stood in front of Catherine?"

"I'll let the pack know so they can beef up patrols. I'll make sure we tear him . . ."

Edward took control, as he often did, with Jake. "Jacob, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, and the effort of the pack, _we'll_ handle this. But I would feel better, we'd _all _feel better, if you stayed very close to Nessie until we determine who this person is. He's one of us, and we have no idea where he came from, or of his motivations. If he knows about us, if he knows about Nessie . . ."

"Say no more. I'm outta here." Jacob hesitated only a moment. "Edward, I . . . I want you to know, I won't leave her side. But . . . but I want to help Charlie, too." Jake lowered his head as he said it. I knew he was struggling with Nessie, his absolute, and Charlie, his friend and my dad.

"We'll let you know what the plan is as soon as we have one. For now, I don't want her left alone. I don't care if she's seventeen and wants her space. Understand?" If I wasn't overcome with fear, I might have chuckled at Edward's astute observation.

With a bewildered expression, Jacob absentmindedly said out loud, "So,_ now_ I have her father's permission . . . "

"JAKE!" I was not in the mood. He was out the door in a flash.

We stood around for what seemed like an eternity, even for me, everyone presumably considering the events of the last hour. All I could think of was not my dad, and not this woman. Charlie had finally found someone, someone he was so interested in that he wanted me to meet her.

Jasper finally broke the interminable silence. "We need to find out who this guy is. Edward, you and Emmett come with me. We'll go see if we can sniff him out. If he's one of us, we're bound to catch his trail somewhere."

"I'm going, too. He's_ my_ dad," I offered petulantly.

But Edward, ever my protector, thought otherwise. "No, Bella. You need to go back to the cottage and be near Nessie. While we all know Jacob will protect her . . ."

Emmett's snicker cut him off. "Yeah, _protect_ her." I directed a look so severe at Emmett, he stepped back and pulled Rosalie with him.

"Edward's right, Bella. But I'll go with the boys," Rosalie offered.

"What? Oh, no, you . . ." Emmett didn't have a chance.

"Shut up. I'm going, and you can't stop me. Besides, if I'm the one to find him, I won't need the rest of you." Rosalie headed for the front door. "C'mon, time's a-wastin'," she said as she walked out.

I turned around to face Edward. "Please, _please_ be careful," I begged, and kissed him to emphasize the point.

"Don't worry, Bella. I'll have his back." Jasper smiled and pulled Alice close to him to kiss her just the same.

"Oh? And who'll have yours?" Alice tugged Jasper's chin playfully, but her expression was all business.

"Why, Rose, of course." I gave Jasper a small smile, appreciating his attempt to break the tension. Emmett didn't see the humor. "Very funny, ya' damn rebel."

He ran out the door after Rose, with Jasper yelling after him, "Hey, bro, are you forgettin' your Southern heritage?"

I looked back at Edward, searching his eyes for some sort of affirmation, some small guarantee.

"We'll be fine, love. Go to Nessie."

He was out the door in a whoosh of air.

"Bella, I'll come stay with you," Esme offered as she patted Carlisle's hand. "Dearest, do call or come get us once there's word."

"Yes, immediately." Carlisle's automatic response belied his deep concentration.

"Bella, if you don't mind, I'll stay here. I need to stay far from Jake - so I can see if . . . the vision changes," Alice said uncertainly.

"Sure, Alice. Please call if you . . . if it . . . if you see _anything_."

As Esme and I walked arm and arm through the patio doors, I chanced a momentary look back at Carlisle. Although he was trying to hide it, his expression was familiar. I'd seen it before.

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**A/N:**

It took me days to write this chapter, and more days to come back from the precipice in my head that kept saying how could you write _that_?

If you've been reading and haven't reviewed, I'd really love to hear what you thought.

If you'd been reading and _have _reviewed, I'd really love to hear what you thought.

But yet again, thanks for both.


	10. Chapter 10

Relatively short chapter for everyone. My baby brother is getting married on Saturday, so this will be one of just a handful of weekends since February that I'm not writing.

A weekend away from Charlie . . . not sure if I'm gonna make it.

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**Chapter 10**

Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite #2, Op. 55 - 4. Solveig's Song

CathPOV

My eyes fluttered open, and the first thing they saw was the time. 8:00.

I'd finally slept.

I rolled over onto my back, and the second realization hit me - no nightmares.

_Ahhh._

But then a teeny-tiny moment of anxiety snuck up on me - my bodyguards?

_Are they still outside?_

I threw the covers back and scampered over to the patio doors to peek out, breathing a small sigh of relief as I spotted them both. Humphries stood to the left of my patio, and Jackson to the right. Humphries saw me and waved, so I sheepishly waved back and left the immediate vicinity of the windowed doors. Granted, my clothing consisted of a not-the-slightest-bit-sexy t-shirt and cut-off sweats, but I wasn't too enamored with the idea of these guys seeing me in my jammies two days in a row.

I started the coffee. Yesterday. I smiled to myself. Charlie had made a Herculean effort to be a gentlemen, that was clear to me. The flowers, the compliments, the proffered hand onto the boat, and ultimately his suggestion that he take me back here.

During . . . in the _middle_ of . . . _talk _about Herculean effort. That alone got him the gold star.

When we finally did get back to the cabin, the first thing I noticed was my door had been fixed. Humphries and Jackson were already standing at the side, waiting for us. Charlie must have called them on his way out of the house. Call it intuition, or just enough knowledge of the male mind, but I had an inkling that Charlie had thought, perhaps _hoped_, that I wouldn't be returning to it. Little did he know, but our car ride conversation on the way back to the cabin almost made _me_ ask _him_ to stay. Almost.

Charlie had instantly taken my hand the minute we were out of his driveway, and this time, it was different. _This_ time, I was . . . Relaxed? Comforted? Reassured? What amazed me the most was what he conveyed by the simple gesture. Whatever the word was, it escaped me now. But it was there. I'd laid all my cards on the table last night, total exposure, and he'd stood up under the onslaught, the tears, as I lifted the drawbridge that I never intended upon opening. For anyone.

On the outskirts of the town, he'd suddenly turned to me. I thought he'd been surprised to my reaction to the song on the radio, "Let My Love Open the Door" by Pete Townshend, but after I'd revealed it was one of my favorites, he'd kept on smiling.

. . .

"I know I'm a doof, but I _like_ this song, okay? Do you know it?" I shifted in my seat to look straight at him.

"Pete Townshend? Are you kidding? Of course." But when his smile didn't waver, I kept on staring at him.

"What? What's so funny?" I had to ask.

"Nothing." The corners of his mouth slowly drifted downward as he said it, and the lightness of the previous moment flew straight out the window. I thought about pretending I didn't notice, pretending I didn't see the change in him, and twisted back in my seat to look forward. But I couldn't let it go.

"You're not getting off that easy, Chief. What was so funny a minute ago that isn't so funny now?" I turned slightly again so I could see him. He'd gone from 'funny ha-ha' to 'fuck uh-oh' in less than ten seconds.

"You."

"_I'm_ funny? . . ." I could feel Miss Pissy grab hold of the bars of her cage where she had been locked away for the last few days. I didn't like to let her out much. She could be a real bitch.

"Damn, Catherine, that's not what I meant. I meant . . . you. Us. _This_." He glanced over at me. "It's just . . . I'm not good with, you know . . . saying things right. But . . ." He let out a rather long exhale.

_You. Us. This. _I looked down at his hand, and as I did, he gave it a quick tug.

"I just . . . haven't felt like this in, oh, I don't know how long," he finally confessed as he squeezed my hand.

It was like getting the wind knocked out of me, but not quite. A quick flashback whizzed into my head of the one time I'd ever had the wind knocked out of me. While flirting with a nice gentleman at a frat party, the wrought-iron railing of the porch we were both sitting on gave way, both of us tumbling backwards off of it smack-dab onto the metal. Alcohol involved, cool. Subsequent trip to the hospital by ambulance because other drunken frat boys were nervous, not cool.

His eyes went back to the road, and his mood grew even more serious, with a dash of apprehension. "Catherine, I don't know what's happening with us. All I know is . . . I don't want to screw this up. I'm real good at screwing things up."

Like _I _was the poster model for perfect relationships. "Charlie, please . . . I'm no pro at this either, you know. I mean, what I told you tonight should make that pretty evident," I admitted, suddenly finding some lint on my jeans very interesting.

"You're an old pro compared to me." My eyebrow went up at the word "old". I didn't think he saw it, but he must have.

"Uh, I didn't mean _old_, I meant . . ." he searched for the right word. Telepathically, I tried to tell him "more mature" would have been suitable, but alas . . .

"I just meant, well, I haven't had a relationship since Renee . . . a _real_ relationship, or, er . . . anything that makes me feel like . . . _this_."

_This_ came out as part of another long exhale, as if he'd been holding his breath for the last three minutes. I'd sort-of figured out, even in our short time together, that Charlie wasn't the great communicator, that words didn't flow from him like Shakespearean prose.

At this moment, however, his sincerity was unmistakable.

"Renee and I were just kids. She had dreams, big dreams, and staying in Forks wasn't one of them. She wanted out of here, anywhere but here. And I couldn't leave. I was a rookie cop. It was all I'd ever wanted to be. A cop here in Forks. I'd grown up here, had friends and family here. Both of my parents were sick and needed me to take care of them. But we got married anyway. I thought . . . asking her to marry me would help, would change things. Then she got pregnant."

He glanced away, nearly out his side window. I got the feeling that he was remembering something hurtful, something painful, and he didn't want me to see it written on his face.

"But it didn't. She . . . we became like two strangers, with Bella the only thing that would even get us to talk to each other. She never even asked me what _I _wanted." He turned to me then, so quickly I almost jumped. "Don't get me wrong, Bella's the best thing that ever happened to me, and I wouldn't trade her for the world. But if Renee hadn't gotten pregnant, would we have stayed together, even for the short amount of time we did? Probably not. I think she would've taken off the first chance she got. She did anyway." He stopped, and I let the silence linger before a smidgeon of courage gave me the strength to speak.

"Charlie, I'm . . . I'm _so _sorry. You didn't need to . . . tell me . . . about you and Renee just because I . . ."

His pained expression left no doubt in my mind that it was the first time he'd spoken all of that aloud. "No, I'm not telling you because of what you told me tonight. I want you to know . . . to understand. Catherine, I . . . I don't want to . . . I like what we have here. I, uh, don't know where it's going, or how you feel. I think you sort of don't mind being around me, right?"

I just nodded my head yes and grinned.

"I just want you . . . to stay, for as long as you can. I know we've only known each other for a few days, and you have a job and a family back in Chicago, and well . . ." He paused, and I stayed quiet. "But when you know, you just _know_. You know?"

He stared out the windshield, and I was almost relieved he didn't look at me. My jaw was nearly in my lap, so I snapped it shut before he noticed. I finally knew what the word "dumbstruck" actually meant, but it was more like a priest behind the confessional screen, without the anonymity. Charlie didn't seem like the type who let emotion overcome him, but the pain behind his words nearly broke my heart.

I couldn't even fathom leaving him, taking his baby daughter away from him . . . taking _our_ baby daughter . . . _Our _baby daughter?

_Don't go there._

I laced my fingers through his, and as I did, I realized I liked the look of it, the _sensation _of his strong fingers holding my considerably smaller ones. The slightest squeeze of his fingers on the back of my hand told me he was looking at me, but I couldn't look up.

After so many years of hiding, after everything I'd been through . . . Was there someone who might actually break through? Someone I could let _in_? Was that someone actually sitting _next _to me?

"Yes, I _think_ I know . . . what you mean. I . . ." I turned to look at him. "Charlie, I'm just so . . ."

His eyes were back on the road. "Terrified?"

"Yesss." My answer came out in a breath as I lowered my head. Admitting fear; one of my ten commandments broken.

"Me, too," he nearly whispered as he tugged at my hand again. I chanced a sideways look at him, and he was staring straight at me, his expression concerned, as if he'd broken one of his own rules, too.

Another long silence and a few deep breaths later, I said, "Hmmm. You know, this would make a terrific Hallmark, no _Lifetime_ Channel, movie."

"_What_?" he laughed out.

"You know, one of those God-awful chick flicks they show. Girl meets guy, or vice versa, they fall in love, some sort of angsty thing happens, they make-up, and then they live happily ever after."

"_Angsty_?" He said the word as if he never heard it before.

"You know, a fight, or some roadblock put between the two of them by some outside force, blah, blah, blah." How _did _one explain angst to a guy?

"Have _we_ had angsty?" he asked, truly mystified.

"No, but I'm sure it's coming. Probably when we get back to my cabin." I smiled and gave him a wink. Suddenly, I was really happy he'd glossed over the "fall in love" "happily ever after" part of my explanation.

We reached the cabin minutes later, and Charlie dutifully checked in with Humphries and Jackson as I inspected my door by giving a few good tugs on the doorknob. It seemed pretty solid.

"Hey, easy there, Tiger. Had Forks' finest handle that. It won't be coming down again, unless, of course, Jackson takes another kick at it."

He had his arms around my waist before I had the key in. I chanced a glance over to where Humphries and Jackson had been standing. They'd disappeared to the side of the cabin, obviously to give their Chief maneuvering room, aka privacy. I was acutely aware of his body pressed against my back. With the doorknob barely turned, he shoved me through it, slammed it shut with his foot, and spun me around, capturing my arms at my sides. His lips were on mine before I could turn on the light, or drop my keys or purse, each slipping through my fingers and ending up on the floor.

The minute I felt his tongue, I rethought my decision to leave his place. I loved the feel of it, the way he moved it against mine, asking me, tempting me, luring me. . . My hands slid from where they'd been imprisoned at my side up his chest, over his shoulders and around, one landing on the back of his neck, the other buried in his hair. God, I loved wrapping my fingers in it.

I came up for air. "You . . . you know I want you to stay, right?" using his line from earlier. He gave me that shit-eating grin I was beginning to love.

"Yep."

His mouth captured mine again, then nipped slowly across my jaw, until he found that special spot behind my ear, his tickly mustache sending sparks through me. I was putty, no, more like a limp noodle, in his hands. My neck muscles began to fail as my head drifted backwards, and his hand came up to catch it. The other one at my lower back pulled me tighter to him, while his lips worked their way back to mine. I wanted to drop all reason right there on the floor. Screw the bed. We'd get there eventually.

"Catherine. _Catherine_. Look at me." Suddenly, his warm lips were gone. _What?_ Oh, he had said . . . something.

"Yeah?" I said in a whisper, through half-lidded eyes.

"Call me tomorrow. First thing when you get up."

Bam. Talk about a cold shower.

"Oh, okay. Okay."

He loosened his hold of me, but didn't let me go completely. My hand still in his hair traveled slowly down across the stubble on his cheek, where the tips of my fingers suddenly decided to explore his bristly mustache, and then his soft lips, memorizing the complete opposite textures of the two. As I let out an exhale that would've matched his from earlier, I brought my arms down around his waist and pulled him back to me, putting my head on his chest. My hands slowly wandered down to his lovely backside. The memory of him leaning over my car engine, and what I'd been thinking then, washed over me, and I giggled.

"You are unbelievable," he said, exasperated. "You're _definitely_ not making this any easier." He took my shoulders and gave me a gentle nudge away.

"Okay, okay. Go, Mr. Big Chief. Or whatever they call you." I stepped back and watched him turn to walk out the door.

"Remember, call me. First thing," he ordered, halfway through the door, not looking back. I knew that any hesitation, even a last minute glance back, and he wouldn't have left.

. . .

Now, holding my morning coffee, I giggled at the memory. As I walked over to the couch, I touched his number on my phone.

"Hey." He sounded as if he'd just woken up.

"Did I wake you? You . . . you said to call first thing. I only hesitated long enough to make my coffee." _Okay, that came out a little too panicky._

"No, I'm awake. I'm just lying here . . . thinking," he said contentedly.

"Really? Whatcha thinking about?" I asked demurely.

"You. Here. Me. There. I think you can get the picture."

I could hear his grin. I let an image of my own float to the surface . . . both of us, naked on a bed, my hand softly running over the skin and hair on those pecs of his.

I decided to play along. "Mmmm. Yes, I think I do. Tell me, what am I doing?"

"You . . . are . . . doing . . . _things_ . . . to me." I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed to describe what I was doing, or if he was just being coy.

"Mmmm. And what are _you_ doing?"

"Loving every minute of it."

I inwardly squealed, but kept up my façade. "I see. May I ask if you . . . or . . . was it reciprocated?"

"Oh, it was _reciprocated_. Right before you called." I heard a swish in the background, like sheets moving, and I could tell he'd sat up.

"Well, that's just _lovely_. I should've called you _before_ I made my coffee." The disappointment in my voice not completely fake.

He laughed this time. "Yeah, you should have. But I'm back now. Back to reality. Speaking of which, I have to go into the station for a few hours this morning." His mood changed instantly with the mention of the station.

"Okay. No problem. I think I'm going to go out to the beach for awhile. Maybe take a walk." I had yet to take advantage of one of the main reasons I'd chosen to stay at this lodge.

He hesitated slightly, enough for me to sense he wasn't completely comfortable with the idea. "Just make sure you stay within sight of Humphries and Jackson, and tell them where you're going." _There was my big Police Chief._

"Yes sir!" I barked back.

"Catherine, I'm serious. Just because we haven't found this guy, or any leads . . ."

"You didn't find anything? No one else _saw_ him?" I let slip a smidge of fear. I hadn't just imagined him, had I? "M-maybe, maybe he just went away. Maybe he saw you when I . . . when you were there waiting, and just decided . . . I wasn't worth the trouble." I sounded as if I was trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince him.

"Yeah, _maybe_. But I'm not taking any chances. I don't want you walking too far on that beach, even if there are other people about. Can you do that for me - stay within sight of my guys?"

He was seconds away from calling a SWAT team to come surround me on the beach. He knew I was scared, and I had to admit I was, but if I was going to get to the beach, I had to fake bravery, and I had to do it well.

"Yes, of course I can do that, silly." _Must shift conversation._ "How 'bout I even drive myself over for lunch today? Then you won't have to worry about that, either. By the way, what time should I be there?"

He paused, and I was positive he was mulling option a, letting me actually drive over, or b, coming out her to fetch me himself.

"Yeah. All right. How's 1:00? That should be enough time to do . . . to get things straightened at the station, and for _you_ to have your _beach_ time." He snidely said the words you and beach, but jokingly enough so I knew he was back from Worryville.

"Perfect," I replied. "Oh, but Chief, is that _jealousy_ I hear? Don't be." I looked out the patio doors. "It's cloudy. It will probably rain any minute now, and your concern will be all for nothing, because I'll be stuck in this cabin until I can drive to your place."

There was a huge sigh on the other end. "Hmmm. I wonder if the Quileute have a prayer for rain, not that we'd ever need it around here. Maybe I'll call Billy and ask him . . ."

"What? What's a Quileute? Who's Billy?"

"It's a local Native American tribe. Billy Black. He's a friend of mine."

"Oh." I paused, taking that all in. "Listen, you do what you need to do, Chief, and don't worry about me. I'll be a good girl."

"Mmmm. Yes, I _know _you will." We were _not_ talking about the beach anymore.

"You are unbelievable, Charlie Swan," I said, using his words from last night. I tried to sound offended, but secretly, I was tickled pink to hear this side of him.

"_You_ have no idea," he said, almost as if a challenge, and hung up the phone. Oh, but I could _imagine_.

I hurriedly did my morning routine, threw on some shorts and a t-shirt, although it really wasn't that warm, and put my hair in a ponytail. I decided to be the good little girl I'd promised to be, since Charlie would undoubtedly call Humphries or Jackson for updates. Just lying on the beach reading for awhile would do, so I grabbed my overused copy of _Sense and Sensibility_. But I needed something to lie on, so I look around and spied the blanket I had purchased hanging out of my pack. Grabbing it, I shuddered at the thought of the day I'd bought it. No, I wasn't going to let another "episode" ruin my morning. That asshole wasn't going to keep me from doing what I wanted to do.

I walked out and dutifully told Humphries and Jackson I would be right out on the beach where they could see me, per Charlie's orders. I found a nice spot, not too near the water. As long as I could see my bodyguards, and they could see me, everything would be fine.

In a few hours, I would be meeting Charlie's daughter. I felt a chill run over me, and noticed I had goosebumps. I wasn't completely sure if it was the sea breeze causing them, or the thought of meeting Bella. I decided to get to Charlie's early so I could have a beer before Bella arrived. I wondered if Charlie knew how to make a good martini . . .

Damian POV

I studied her from my secluded perch, her horizontal shamelessness almost an invitation, her choice of fiction less so. Austen. A superfluous melodrama. Why would she waste her time on such drivel? My thoughts were interrupted by the unencumbered view of the pale flesh of her legs revealed by her lack of sufficient clothing. I would stroke their smoothness with my icy fingers soon enough, savoring her shivering body as I did so. That, and all she had yet to expose.

I pondered her two defenders, obviously not the masterminds of the law enforcement brigade, but enough to deter me from revealing himself. I briefly entertained the thought of another chance meeting with her, remembering the darkened path and the thrill of my touch across her frightened and immobile body. The speed at which I could seize her now, and carry her to the farthest recesses of the forest, was admittedly intriguing. But I knew better than to chance even a second on the open shore with possible witnesses. Unintended casualties would draw excess attention, although just a drop of human blood would be extraordinarily satisfying. It had been _so_ long. No. None would compare to the delicious taste of _her_, and I would have my fill. Besides, the absence of Charlie Swan prevented the fulfillment of what was now becoming my secondary goal.

Because I knew nothing could come about during the daylight hours, I returned to my quarters, powered on the laptop, and dispatched a report to Aro.

_Aro,_

_Mission_ _nearly completed. All is well and going as expected. Should be returning home within the week._

_Your humble servant,_

_Damian_

As if Aro had been sitting, anxiously awaiting news, his reply appeared almost instantaneously.

_Dearest Damian,_

_Your news lifts my spirits. However, I would have expected a more prompt and immediate resolution. I look forward to hearing you tell of the adventures that prolonged your stay, and all the wonderment that you have enjoyed. Please do return soon. I would hate to have to send Felix to fetch you. He does so hate leaving home._

_Aro_

Aro was growing impatient, assuredly. I settled upon two more days as the length of postponement the most I could afford. After the previous evening's spectacle, I questioned my own endurance. I powered down the machine and crept silently from the room, the thought of her prone form on the sand overpowering. The ache for her mounted in my core the longer she remained absent from view.

BellaPOV

I went back up to the house in the early morning, after making sure Jacob and Renesmee were engrossed with some video game in the cottage. Some time during the middle of the night, Jake had fallen asleep on the couch, and I'd let him sleep while I paced and glanced at my cell phone once a minute. Edward and crew hadn't called, which meant they had found nothing.

Renesmee questioned me for the first part of the morning, wondering where Edward was, and why Jake had slept over. She then turned to Jake, cleverly figuring out that he knew something as well. I told her the only excuse I could come up with, that Edward had left to hunt early, and he would be back soon. I said Jacob had fallen asleep after she had gone to bed, and I'd let him stay. I hated not telling her the truth, but frightening her with the vision, not to mention the possible presence of another vampire bent on killing her grandfather, was not an option. So Jacob and I did our best to make her think there was nothing going on. But my daughter was too perceptive.

I opened the patio door to see Carlisle, Esme, and Alice sitting in the living room.

"They haven't returned? Any of them? Have they called you?" I walked up and took a seat next to Esme on the couch. She wrapped her arm around me in her motherly way.

"No, nothing. You?" Carlisle asked.

"Nothing. Alice, you haven't seen anything new? Any change?" I knew Alice would have said something by now, but I needed to ask anyway.

"Not a thing. It hasn't changed a bit," she replied dejectedly. "And it doesn't look like good news on the search either."

As if Jasper himself had heard her, the front door came bursting open, and the four of them stood in front of us. Alice flew to Jasper's arms, and Edward came to my other side, taking my hand. I searched his face.

"Well, did you find him? Did you . . . get rid of him?" Useless questions on my part, as I already knew what they weren't telling me. My stare shifted from Edward to Jasper, then to Emmet, and finally Rose.

"Bella . . ." Edward hesitated. "There was _nothing_. No hint, no trace of him whatsoever."

* * *

**A/N:**

So did everyone enjoy our adorably bumbling favorite cop?

A little teaser for the next chapter: Catherine meets Bella. Dun, dun, duh. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone. Once again, thanks to all of you who are reading. This chapter has a little bit for everyone, so I apologize now for the whiplash you may get with the changing POVs.

Some of you might be getting a little impatient with the, um, pace of the story, so allow me to quote from one of my favorite authors and stories . . . this is a long, slow, burn, folks. ;)

Chapter 11

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30: II. Intermezzo. Adagio

Bella POV

Esme and I were busy in the kitchen, making what could only be described as a feast. The menu included chicken salad on croissants, potato salad, some recipe Esme had seen on the Food Channel for sweet potato chips, and strawberry shortcake, complete with homemade cakes. The others were still in the living room, continuing the strategy discussion. We'd all been together, rehashing the vision and the lack of any clues, since Edward, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose had returned. My insides felt like I was riding a teeter-totter, struggling with the two dilemmas of meeting Charlie's new girlfriend, and the fact that Alice had seen them both dead by the hands of some vampire. A vampire we couldn't find.

I was finishing slicing up tomatoes for the sandwiches when the rest of family filtered into the kitchen. I'd overheard earlier that part of the plan included Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie going on another hunt for the vampire. No one could fathom how there wasn't a trace or clue of him. Anywhere.

Rose and Alice took seats at the island while Emmett and Jasper stood behind them. Edward walked over to my side, watching with intense interest my precision slicing. Carlisle joined Esme as she sliced strawberries.

"Man, that smells disgusting." Emmett couldn't even pretend to like human food, although he'd gone to great pains to do so over the years for Renesmee. When she was a baby, he always seemed the one to get to her eat when no one else could.

"Shut up, Emmett," everyone said in unison.

"Bella," Alice said suddenly, "Edward and I will follow you to Charlie's today and hang out in the woods out back to see if you get any company." This must have been the part of the plan Edward and Alice had worked out secretly amongst themselves.

"Wait . . . what?" Jasper apparently was as clueless about it as I was.

"Yes, now don't fret. We need to split up. Edward and I can handle this guy, and Bella will be near if we need her. You need to concentrate on finding him, or any clues to him." Jasper went to speak, but was cut off. "Not another word." Alice undoubtedly put her hand across his mouth, because Jasper's protests came out in one long muffle against her palm.

I turned from my tomato slicing, wiping my hands on the towel around my waist, to face all of them. I loved them all tremendously. Once again, they were forgetting about themselves for another helpless human, who happened to be my father, and a woman they'd never even met. Edward took my hand in his, sensing my building anxiety. "Love, I know you're already uncomfortable with all of this, but Alice and I think it will help if you concentrate on Charlie and Catherine, rather than wondering if this . . . this thing is lurking about outside."

He was right. I wanted to get to know this woman, as much as I could during a lunch, if only because I already knew how much she meant to Charlie.

"You need this opportunity, especially if we're going to be leaving soon," Edward said in a low voice next to me.

My eyes shot to his, and I threw my shield around him so only he could hear my thoughts. _"I know. We have enough to worry about with Renesmee, especially when we finally discuss it with Jake."_

_"Yes, and if your father and this woman . . . if they stay together . . ."_

_"I know, Edward. I know. We don't need any more trouble from the Volturi."_

Carlisle walked over to me and took my hands in his as I pulled back my shield from Edward. "Bella, you are part of this family, and that makes Charlie part, even though we must protect him from any true knowledge of what we are. You're going to have to be very careful with this woman, and put on your best human performance since Charlie came to visit that first time after Renesmee was born."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." I hung my head and nodded. I felt a welcome wave of calm flow from Jasper to me, and was grateful for it. I threw him a grin, and he responded in kind. "Thank you. Thank you all for once again putting yourselves in danger for me. I . . ."

Rose took offense. "Bella, don't be silly. We're not in any danger. This guy's outnumbered. As soon as we find him, he'll be toast." Emmett threw his hands around the chair back to grab Rose by the waist, pulling her close.

"Well put, baby," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Esme and I will stay here with Renesmee. In fact, I'll go and get her, then bring her to the house. I'll pretend that _I'm_ giving her a lesson today," Carlisle offered.

"On what?" Emmett asked.

"Oh, I'm thinking early 19th century art, since I just happen to have some around the house." He winked at me.

"She'll like that, I'm sure," Esme smiled at him.

Edward sniffed out a laugh. "Carlisle, you'll probably want to join us after the first ten minutes with her."

"I highly doubt that, Edward. I have a way with children. Just look how well you all turned out." He grabbed Esme by the waist and led her out of the kitchen, presumably to go with him to the cottage to get his pupil.

"What about contacts?" Alice asked.

"I'm not going to wear them. I don't need them around Charlie anymore, and the woman never saw my . . . other ones."

Alice just smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Look how many times we went to high school without them, and you're the only one to ever notice." She hopped off her stool.

"Okay then, we're off." Jasper seemed eager to get going.

"Oh, and hey, you guys will call me if you find anything? Because if and when you do, I'll be able to relax even more." I faked a smile, but they weren't buying it.

Rosalie came up and gave me a reassuring hug. "Bella,_ I_ won't forget. Besides, men _never_ remember to call."

She left the kitchen, Emmett yelling "Whaat?" in her wake.

"You'll be fine, darlin'. Everything will be fine. Don't you worry, we'll find this guy." Jasper flashed me one his beautiful smiles and a last wave of calm. I wasn't meant to catch his glance back at Edward, but I did. Jasper's smile faded as he shared a silent thought with Edward before he disappeared from the kitchen, following Emmett and Rose. I knew they would do everything they could, everything in their power. But Alice's vision . . . I had _always_ bet on Alice. I hoped in my non-beating heart of hearts there was a first time; a first time for Alice to be wrong.

"C'mon, love, I'll help you pack the car." Edward pulled me close and planted a soothing kiss on my forehead.

Damian POV

A piece of her. A keepsake. A memento with which to return to Volterra, so I would forever have her enticing smell within my reach. I watched as she exited her quarters, conversed briefly with the two law enforcement officers, abandoning me. Oh, I knew full well her intended destination. I had overheard her banter earlier that morning with Charlie Swan. My insides twisted as jealousy flamed like a bonfire. The two officers took their leave, and the coast was clear.

Arriving at the door, I scrutinized the surroundings, assuring no witnesses would catch a glimpse. Of course, traveling the mile or so it was from my perch to her door could never even register to the human eye, but prudence was necessary, being so momentarily exposed. I took a moment to sniff the air, smelling her sweet scent, before utilizing the tools I had obtained to discretely enter her haven. I secured the door behind me, and nearly collapsed to my knees as the intoxication was everywhere. _She _was everywhere.

I studied every object that piqued my interest, inhaling her precious aroma, attempting to uncover which was the most compelling. I spied an empty cup that beckoned my tongue, licking her delectable essence from its rim. As I did so, my eyes fell upon her bed, luring with fervent temptation. Swiftly disrobing, I fell face first onto it, consuming the essence she'd left behind on the linens, knowing their softness mimicked her smooth skin on mine, nearly shredding them in my clenched fingers. This was where she'd laid, no doubt dreaming of me, the mere cogitation stiffening my member. My hand journeyed down of its own volition, my arousal like a burgeoning Vesuvius, obstructed from eruption. I swathed myself in the linens, in _her_, and affected my own release, stroking as she would soon stroke me. I pictured her mouth around me, and then tried to imagine the wondrous sensation when I would be surrounded by her warmth from within. Convulsing tremors overtook my body as relief came quickly, and my venom spilled to intermingle with her residual bouquet. I envisioned the finality of gorging on her blood, allowing myself a few more moments of the extraordinary sensations, a mixture of satisfaction and dominance. Of absolute _power_. The power I would exude over her. The power I would obtain upon returning to Volterra.

I arose and redressed quickly, realizing I had nearly forgotten the procurement of a keepsake. The desperate need to possess an ornamentation as powerful as the growing requirement to be near her again.

There.

Next to her valise, I spied a bag of clothing, the smell from it more concentrated than her bed. I inhaled each, examining remnant after remnant, ascertaining they were garments recently worn, the most enthralling of all artifacts, the most prized. When I couldn't reach a decision between the article of clothing she'd worn when I had first encountered her, or a wondrously heady undergarment, I purloined both. She'd purposely left them for me. Yes. It was her gift to me, knowing she would miss neither.

I shoved the adornments in my pocket, and it was as if she would remain with me forever. I must go to her, be near her. I had been too long away.

CathPOV

I pushed my rental car to a speed not legally acceptable, and wondered if I'd get a ticket if I were stopped. If I just happen to let slip that I was dating the Police Chief . . .

Dating. Charlie. Swan. _Was that what I was doing?_

The word dating implied _going somewhere_. Together. _Often_. I'd seen him off and on for five days of a vacation. Five days? Or was it four? When did I get here? It seemed like a lifetime ago.

My iPhone played Nina Simone's "Feelin' Good" as I sang along. I laughed out loud as I realized I _did_ feel good. The slight drizzle that had started while I was still on the beach had turned into a steady rain, but its tap, tap, tapping on my windshield didn't even phase me. Sometime in the last few days, things had changed. _I_ had changed. And somewhere deep down, although I hated to admit it, I knew the difference was a small town police chief named Charlie Swan.

My smile grew as I thought about it. Memories of Charlie and the last few days whizzed through my mind; the first time I saw his smile on the side of the 101, the safety of his arms after . . . , fishing on his boat, his tender kiss, his _not so_ tender kisses . . . mmmm. I wasn't sure which I liked better.

And now I was meeting his daughter. I wondered if her husband and daughter would be coming. The way Charlie had talked, it was just Bella alone. That seemed strange. But maybe he thought it would be too much for me, meeting them all together. My clothing was severely limited for a get-to-know-my-daughter lunch, but I had thrown together khakis and a simple, white, v-neck sweater. It was the last relatively nice thing I had packed. The sleeves were short, and I was sure I looked as pale as a ghost. The cloud cover and eventual drizzle had veritably ruined my beach morning and had done absolutely nothing for my color.

I pulled up to his house and noticed that only Charlie's squad car and truck were there, so Bella hadn't arrived yet. _Phew._ That meant some alone time with Charlie first, and maybe that much needed beer. Charlie already had the front door open, very helpful in that it had started to pour. I grabbed my jean jacket and purse, and ran up to the house.

"Welcome to typical Forks weather. You've been lucky the past few days," he noted as I scooted by him through the door he held open. I set my stuff down on the back of the couch, and turned so I could touch him.

"Hi." Before I could mutter another word, he had his arms around me, planting a long, slow, soft hello kiss on my lips. One that I was beginning to like. A lot.

"Hi," he mumbled, not breaking the kiss. It was over too soon, as he took my hand and led me into the kitchen. "Want a beer?"

"Yesss. Please," I sighed and then chuckled. He never told me he was a mind reader. He ducked his head into the fridge and came out with two. I took a seat in the kitchen chair and couldn't help but ogle. The view of his ass from my vantage point was darn near perfect, especially in his customary Levis topped off by a very sexy navy tee. He popped both tabs, handed me mine, and sat down across from me.

"So, you must have made that call to your friend then. Um, Billy Black, right?" He laughed. "Thanks for spoiling my morning." I pretended to pout.

"I didn't call him, I swear." He crossed his heart and held up his hand.

"Mmmhmm. So how was the station?" I took a gulp of my beer.

His smile disappeared, and a slight crease in his forehead clued me in. "Fine. It was just some routine stuff."

"Doesn't look like it from the expression on your face." I leaned in closer to him across the table, and reached out my hand. He followed my lead and took it in his own. "Care to share?" I could feel his apprehension, and I just knew it had something to do with me and the guy from the woods.

"Ah, we're just frustrated because we can't find anything about the guy you ran into. He just seems to have vanished." He let go of my hand and dejectedly sat back on his chair, taking another swig of his beer.

I saw my opening, so I took two steps and snuggled into the inviting spot in his lap. I placed my beer on the table, putting one arm around his neck and my hand on his chest, sliding it gently across. "Well, maybe it's time to let it go. Maybe he just got the hell out of Dodge. Maybe he saw you, shit his pants, and moved on. He's probably in Canada by now." The serious way I had tried to deliver those sentences was lost after his smile came back and mine answered it.

His touched his finger to my nose. "You're amazing. Know that?"

I brought my hand to his cheek. "No, but I like hearing you say it." I glanced at his lips, dipping down closer as I did, until I covered his mouth with mine, letting my tongue find his. His hand on my back found its way under my sweater, his fingertips softly caressing the bare skin. His rough, cool hands against my skin sent an electric current down to my toes.

"Bella could be here any minute, you know." I brushed my lips across his cheekbone, heading toward a delightful nibbling on his ear. But Charlie must have missed my mouth, because he maneuvered his back to mine, his fingers on my back slowly working their way up under my bra strap.

I jerked my head back between heavy breaths, "Charles . . . Swan . . . Hey, what's _your _middle name?"

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

I instantly regretted asking. "Not. Gonna. Happen." I jumped up, grabbed my beer, and started towards the living room, leaving him and his laughter behind.

As I reached the threshold of the kitchen, the front door flew open, and Bella walked in with bags full of what I could only assume was lunch. I ran to her.

"Here, let me help you." I took two bags from her hands. "Hi, I'm Catherine. You must be Bella. It's so good to meet you."

"Thanks. Yes, that's me," she smiled, as I turned and let us both into the kitchen. Charlie grabbed the bags from me and set them on the counter.

"Geez, Bells. It's just the three of us." He emptied containers out of the bags as he spoke.

"You know how Esme is in the kitchen. Besides, you need the leftovers." She set her bags on the table and began to empty them. Charlie finished first and came up to me, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Bells, can I introduce you to Catherine O'Hara. My, uh, friend." Bella turned around, and I finally got a good look at her. She seemed as nervous as I was, or maybe that was just me projecting. I realized the pictures on the wall didn't even remotely do her justice. She was even more beautiful than I'd thought, her skin as pale as mine.

"Hi, Catherine, nice to meet you." She held out her hand, and I clasped it in mine. I tried not to flinch, but her hand was just so _cold_. Cold like stone that you touch when it's twenty below. As if sensing my discomfort, she quickly withdrew hers.

My nervousness was building, which usually led to the control freak in me rearing its ugly head. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm starving. Let's get this stuff opened up and see what we've got here." I saw Bella smile, but I quickly started gathering containers from the table and putting them up on the counter with the rest, if only to do something with my hands.

Bella started to help me, and between the two of us, we spread everything out on the counter while Charlie sat at the table. I heard the clank of his empty as it hit the table. "Another one?" I asked.

"Sure." As I took one from the fridge, I felt Bella's gaze, and turned to find her staring at me.

"Oh." I glanced at Charlie and then back at Bella. "Is it all right if your Dad has another one?" _Did she not like him to drink?_

Her laughter set me at ease. "No, that's fine. I was just amazed, though, because that used to be me. Getting his beer, I mean."

"Well, isn't that why everyone has kids? Instant servants?" Bella and I laughed together. We all started making up our plates, when I realized they had made chicken salad - one of my all time favorites.

Charlie attempted to defend himself. "Hey now. You weren't always getting my beer." The three of us began making up our sandwiches; Bella and Esme had even thought of shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and various cheeses for them. I took the seat closest to the wall, with Bella on my right, and Charlie across from both of us. He took a bite of his sandwich in an attempt to end the conversation.

The chicken salad was amazing, not to mention the homemade chips. "So, you and your mother-in-law made all of this? I must have the recipe for this chicken salad."

"Oh sure. It's nothing really. Esme and I love to cook, especially together. We're always trying something new for, uh, Renesmee . . ." Bella suddenly looked at her father, but then back down at her plate.

"Renesmee. That's your daughter, right? That's such an unusual name. Charlie said you named her after your mom and Esme, right?" I saw Bella shoot another glance at Charlie, and then Charlie seemed like the one who was uncomfortable. _What, had he told me some big family secret or something? Damn, maybe I wasn't supposed to say I knew?_

"It's a beautiful name. I love the originality of it," I said, trying to cover up my faux pas.

"So how'd you two meet?" Bella asked, looking at her Dad.

"Her car was smoking on the side of the 101. I happened to be driving by." He looked at me then and smiled. It was the classic cliché, but so true.

"Really?" Bella eyes flew to me, and I could tell she was a little shocked.

"Yep. The knight in shining armor saves damsel in distress." I glanced back at Charlie, remembering the last time he'd called me that, and how I hadn't been happy about it. He was very intent on taking another bite of his sandwich, but his half-grin told me he remembered. "You couldn't get much cheesier if you wrote it." Bella giggled, and I felt myself relax.

"How long ago did you meet?" Bella asked, glancing first at me, and then at Charlie. He was so engrossed in his chicken salad, he didn't even look up.

"Five days ago," Charlie offered between chews.

"Five days ago?" Bella looked from her father to me, and I just smiled.

"Yeah, it's a little wild to me, too." I took the last swig from my beer. As I started to get up, I noticed Bella hadn't eaten but two bites of her lunch.

"No, please sit, Catherine. I'll get it. Dad?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks, Bells." I watched Bella as she went to the fridge. Something was . . . strange. _Why wasn't she eating? Was she on some sort of strict diet?_ There was no way I was asking, but for someone who had just made all of this food . . . She handed me the beer and smiled as she sat back down. As Charlie asked about the Cullens, whom I assumed were her in-laws, and Edward, I noticed how she held her sandwich, and then put it back down without taking a bite. She picked up a chip, held it for a minute or so, and then put it back down. I hoped she didn't have an eating disorder.

So deep in my internal note-taking, I didn't hear Charlie. "We had fun fishing the other day, didn't we?" he repeated.

"Oh. Yeah. It was . . ." I looked at Charlie, "wonderful. Although your Dad picked on me," I said with a tinge of playful irritation and grabbed a chip.

"Picked on you? My Dad? Nooo. Not possible." Bella's not-so-subtle fake disbelief made me laugh again.

"Hey, she said she knew how to fish, and then when we get out there . . ." Charlie attempted to fight his side.

"Um, Bella, I apologize. Your Dad's right. I'm used to fishing on little lakes in the Midwest with worms and stuff. Not with know-it-all men with complicated lures on rather big boats." Bella's eyes twinkled, and I knew she was on my side. Her eyes were just like her father's, the shape of them at least, but much lighter, almost a golden amber color. I'd never seen eye color like it in my life. _I could've sworn her eyes in the pictures in the living room were brown. Does she wear contacts that color?_

"Who probably laughed at you when you asked for help, right?" She gave her father the yeah-I-know-exactly-what-she's-talking-about look, which I found priceless.

It was at that moment I noticed that half of Bella's sandwich had disappeared. And I _knew_ it hadn't gone into her mouth.

"Hey, I made you dinner, didn't I?" I glanced toward Charlie, if only to be saved from my overactive brainwaves and rude staring at Bella. His eyes pleaded with me for some sort-of truce as Bella started serving plates of strawberry shortcake.

Distracted as I was, I remembered the delectable fish, and couldn't disagree with Charlie. "Yes. Yes, you did. It was fabulous," I admitted, preoccupied.

"Wait, _you_ made _her_ _dinner_?" Bella's hands smacked on the top of the table as she leaned forward in her chair to stare at Charlie incredulously.

"Yeah, I did. Used Harry Clearwater's old fish fry recipe." Bella sat back in her chair, utterly flabbergasted.

"Catherine, you don't understand. This . . . _this_ is the man who a few years ago couldn't even cook spaghetti." Charlie crushed his paper napkin into a ball and threw it at her. She slapped it away with an agile quickness that surprised me, making me think she would've been great as a guard in basketball.

"Now Dad, are those the proper manners for when you have a guest over for lunch?" Bella teased. Charlie just shot her a dad look, and dug into his dessert. I laughed out loud and dropped my head, digging into mine. They were adorable together. As confused as I was by Bella and some nagging feeling about her, I couldn't help but get caught up in their joke.

"I think I'm beginning to understand this, and I must admit, Catherine, I'm rather liking it. If you can get my Dad to cook, that's like . . . pure gold." Bella gave her father a huge smile.

"Really?" I feigned surprise. "Cuz that's really the only meal he's cooked for me. But he did take me to his favorite restaurant." I didn't look at Charlie, and took one more bite of my dessert.

"Let me guess. The diner?" Bella giggled, and I just nodded, trying to hold a straight face. "He took you there? Dad, couldn't you take her into Port Angeles or something? I mean . . ."

"There wasn't time. We were . . ." His hesitation brought his gaze to mine, and I cringed, trying not to remember why he'd taken me out to dinner. Bella looked back and forth between us, waiting for the rest of the story. I couldn't tell if she sensed my tension.

"Your Dad had to stop in at the . . . the station," I shuddered imperceptibly, quickly squashing a glimpse that appeared in my head of the inside of the squad car, "and we just decided to stick around town and grab a quick bite. Besides, my wardrobe is sadly lacking in anything to wear to some fancy-schmancy place." I'd hoped I'd covered well enough, and looked at Charlie, whose eyes were a mixture of astonishment and something else.

"Well, someday I'll have to introduce you to Alice, my sister-in-law. She's a fashion guru, and would have you decked out and made up before you could even get out a refusal." Bella's proposal seemed genuine at first, but just as fast, the smile left her face, and she went back to her dessert. I noticed her fork take a piece and then slide it over to the side of her plate, as if she was rethinking the offer.

Charlie didn't seem to notice. "Yep, Alice is the one if you need clothes help. She helped me with a certain suit, and Bella here quite a few times, including her wedding dress." I could tell by Charlie's grin he was remembering the way Bella must have looked. I could only imagine how beautiful she'd been.

"That sounds like fun. I actually love shopping. Bella, I can't wait to meet the rest of the family, especially your husband and daughter. I hope we can get together soon. Maybe Charlie would let me borrow his kitchen, and I could cook all of you dinner? I make a mean Vodka Pasta." I eyed both of them, but I caught Charlie's anxious look at Bella.

She turned to me then. "Yes, Catherine. That would be fun. I'm sure Edward and Renesmee would love to meet you as well." Her eyes flew to Charlie's, and they seemed to share something between them. I couldn't read Bella's face, and by the time I'd glanced to Charlie's, he was already finishing off his dessert. Bella suddenly stood up and started clearing the dishes. She seemed really intrigued by the backyard, taking a moment to look out the back window, probably to see if it was still raining.

"Here, let me clean up, Bella. It's the least I could do." I grabbed the remaining dishes from the table and brought them up to the counter. "Really, Chief, it's the 21st century. Isn't it about time you bought a dishwasher?"

"Why?" I felt him coming towards me, even though I pretended to scrape the dishes. "I'm the only one here. And I rarely eat here, unless it comes delivered in a box I can then pitch when I'm finished." His arms were around my waist as he kissed my ear.

"Charlie, um . . ." I wiggled in his grasp, trying to send a signal. PDA in front of his daughter, not high on my list of do's. Actually, not _on_ the list at all.

"Yeah, Dad." She shook her head as she left the counter, almost as uncomfortable as I was, to gather up the containers and put them in the bags to bring back home. "If you had caught me and Edward doing . . ." she stopped suddenly and chuckled, as did Charlie.

"I bet he was awful," I hedged, readying the sink. "I bet he didn't like Edward at all at first, grounded you the first time you were late coming home from a date, and then forbid you to see him for some stupid reason or another." I felt Charlie's arms tense around me.

"How'd you know?" Bella's surprise seemed genuine.

"I know the type. I used to have one." I laughed as I started filling up the sink with water. Charlie's arms loosened, and I assumed he turned around to share a look or something with Bella behind my back, because they started laughing, too.

"I hate to say it, but I really need to get going. I have some, uh, errands to run before getting back." Bella suddenly declared.

"Aw, Bells, do you have to?" Charlie left me at the sink and walked over to her. I turned to protest as well, but before I could . . .

"Yes, but it looks like I won't be missed." Bella winked at me, and I was sure my already pink cheeks were now a nice merlot color. She hugged her father, and then came over to me.

"Catherine, it was wonderful to meet you. I really do hope we see each other again. I can tell . . ." she looked back at Charlie, "well, you know." She wrapped me in a hug, but it was uncomfortable. For both of us. Something about her body, the way she hugged, made me think she didn't give them very often. I tried to return it as lightly as possible, but noticed how hard she felt and thought she must work out a lot. She pulled back nervously, almost too quickly.

"Thanks, Bella. It was great to finally meet you, too. I hope you'll let me cook dinner for you and your family. I can't wait to meet the rest of them!" I meant every word, as Bella gave me a shy smile, and turned to get her bags. Grabbing them from the table, she glanced back at me. I smiled, but I couldn't help feeling like she was sizing me up.

Bella took the bags and walked out of the kitchen, with Charlie following her. I made like I was beginning the dishes to give them privacy. There was something about her, something _different_. Charlie had said she was nineteen. Although physically she looked like it, there was something about her . . . something that seemed much older, much wiser. In the just the few hours we'd spent, I liked her. I liked her because of the way she was with Charlie, and the way he was with her. I could tell they were close, even if Bella had only spent a few years with him before getting married. Deep down, I wanted her to like me, too.

Then it hit me. Because somewhere in my messed-up head, and once-dead heart, I realized I liked Charlie way too much now to let him go. If his daughter didn't like me, maybe Charlie . . .

I started washing the first dish. I couldn't imagine what I would do if Charlie felt compelled to let me go because Bella didn't like me. I happened to glance out the same window Bella had earlier, and I felt a prickly feeling on my arms. The light was still sufficient, and the rain had stopped, but the woods behind Charlie's house were darker. I shivered. I didn't like being so close to the woods. I scrutinized every nook and cranny of his backyard and beyond, as much as I could from the small window. Why was I suddenly feeling so freaked out? It was daytime, there was no one back there. I took a deep breath, rinsed the dish I was holding, and put it in the drying rack.

_Catherine, knock it off or Charlie's going to come in here and pack you off to the loony bin._

CharliePOV

I shut the door behind me and stopped up short in the living room. I could still hear Catherine in the kitchen doing dishes, but I needed a moment to digest what Bella had said to me before she left.

I'd followed her into the living room as she was leaving, wanting to get the lowdown on what she'd thought about Catherine. I'd thought it went pretty well, and wanted Bella's quick take.

"Here, Bells, let me take a few of those, and I'll walk you out to the car." She handed me two bags and led the way out. We stopped by her car, another new Mercedes from Edward, the hood ornament clued me in, but I was sure there wasn't another one like it in Forks; probably not even the state of Washington.

"So, whadya think?" I tried to control my enthusiasm. Bella pressed a button on her keychain and the trunk lid slowly went up. She dropped her bags in, then mine, and pressed another button to make it close.

"Dad . . ." she stopped. Uh oh. I got the feeling that she didn't know how to tell me what she thought.

"Bells, it was her first time meeting you. She was nervous . . ." Was I begging? Yeah, but I had to make her understand.

"Dad. Dad, stop. She was great. I can tell . . . I can tell she really likes you. And you her, for that matter." She stopped again, looking past my shoulder. I thought I saw her look around the neighborhood, but I couldn't be sure. She finally decided on staring at the backyard. She couldn't look me in the eye, another bad sign.

"What? What's the matter? Just tell me. I think we just have to give each other time, you know? She's not going to replace your mother, she has no intention . . ." So I was reaching.

"Dad, _please_! It's not that." She finally looked me in the eye. "I _like_ her. Really. I mean, I don't think I know her _that _well yet, but . . . she's very nice and . . . and . . . I think she's good for you. I just want you to be happy, Dad. That's all. If she makes you happy, then I'm happy."

"It sort of means a lot to me that you do like her, ya know?" _How could I make her understand? I wasn't good at this shit._

"I . . . we . . . I know we haven't known each other that long, but Bells, she makes me feel . . . well . . ." _what were the right words_ ". . . nothing I've felt since your mother." I kicked a stone from the driveway, following it as it sailed across the street, if only not to have to look at her face. I was afraid what I might see there. "We're still figuring sh . . . stuff out. We've both got a lot of baggage."

"Was she married, too?" Bella asked, concerned.

"No. Never. But she's been hurt in other ways." I didn't see the need to fill Bella in on all of Catherine's past.

"Dad, just be careful. I mean, I know you will. We'll do everything we can . . ."

"We'll? Whadya mean 'we'll'? Bella, what's going on in that head of yours? Tell me." Okay, now I was getting pissed.

"The family. Just . . . just _be_ with her. I can't . . . Need-to-know, remember Dad?" This time, I know I caught her look around the neighborhood. What the hell was she looking for?

I sighed and followed in the direction of her stare. "Bella, I've done this need to know crap for years now. If there's something going on, especially if it concerns Catherine, I _need _to know."

She suddenly rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me in a giant hug, one that took me by surprise, not to mention almost put me on my ass. "Please, Dad. It's nothing. Really."

I knew when to quit. Bella had said the magic words, but I didn't have to like them. She planted a kiss on my cheek and turned to get into her car.

"Oh, and I'll try extra hard not to give you two all the sh . . . I mean, crap, you gave me and Edward." She looked up from the driver's side door and winked at me.

"Watch your language." It was all I could say.

I watched her as she drove away with a gnawing feeling in my gut. It reminded me of the time that she left for days to go and find Edward in California somewhere . . .

Now, in the living room, I tried to let it go. If and when Bella needed to tell me, she would. Probably. I stood in the kitchen doorway, watching Catherine put the last wet dish in the dish rack.

"You gonna just stand there, Chief Swan, or are you gonna grab a towel?" Catherine didn't even turn around. I took a clean towel from the drawer.

She'd started drying a dish. "Well, I think that went. ._ ._" The smile on her face slowly faded as she turned around and saw my expression. "Charlie, what's the mat . . ." Her hand with the dish reached back to put it on the counter.

"Charlie? W-what happened?"

_The family_. What the hell did Bella mean by that? So lost in trying to figure it out, I barely noticed Catherine slowly turn her back to me and lean against her hands on the counter.

"You look . . . So, Bella didn't like me, did she? I'm sorry. I thought . . . I thought it went really well . . ."

I put my towel down before she could go on and walked up behind her, tugging her close and resting my head on her shoulder. "No, no. It's not that. She _did_ like you, and that's what she said. I thought you two got along great, too." I _had_ thought that, at least until about ten minutes ago.

"I tried. I really did."

"I know you did. Listen, it's not that." I got the feeling she wasn't hearing a word I said.

"She really is quite beautiful, Charlie. I can tell how much you love each other. I . . . I don't want to come between that. So tell me now if this isn't going to work, because . . ." I spun her around and took her chin in my hand. I noticed how she wasn't touching me, her fists balled up, bracing herself.

"Catherine, please. It wasn't like that. It was one lunch, and not a very long one, either. Bella's exact words were, 'I _like_ her. Really. She's very nice, and I think she's good for you.' I _swear_." Her eyes dropped to the floor as I let her chin go. Now I got the feeling she didn't _believe _me.

She walked over towards the table with her back to me again. "Okay. If that's the case, why did you come back in here looking like . . . like you did?" She turned around then and stared me down. My hand rubbed the back of my head. Damn if I knew the answer to that one, but I didn't want to lie to her. I couldn't.

"It was just something else that she said, about something else, about the family. I'm not quite sure what she meant by it, and she wouldn't tell me." Catherine sat down in one of the chairs, her arms folded around her middle. I could see the wheels turning in her head. I had to change the course of this conversation, and fast. Hell, if I was on a need-to-know basis, I was sure Catherine was on a _not_-need-to-know-anything basis.

"Her family? I hope nothing's wrong with Renesmee, or . . ."

"No, I don't think that's it. But here. . ." I went to her and reached out my hand, ". . . I know this much. _You_ have _nothing_ to worry about. Whadya say we go for a walk outside? It's not raining anymore." She thought twice about taking it, but then she did, and I led her out the back door.

BellaPOV

I drove away, watching Charlie out the rearview mirror. How could I have been so stupid, letting slip that _we'd_ be watching? I'd wanted to warn Charlie, yes, but I should have known better. I should have been more careful. Our _need-to-know_ understanding had worked until now, because somewhere deep inside, Charlie knew that everything was okay as far as Edward, Renesmee, and I, and even the rest of the Cullens were concerned. Although Jacob initially had scared the crap out of him, we'd all gotten through it. I didn't even need to wear fake brown contacts around him anymore. But now, it was this woman, Catherine, a _human,_ involved. Someone he obviously cared for - deeply - even _I _could tell that. My _perceptive_ cop father. He probably knew something was up with me, but couldn't see love in his kitchen.

"Ugh," I groaned out loud. We _had_ to protect them. I remembered my persistence after Edward had saved me from Tyler's careening van in the school parking lot. How I'd just had to know _how_ he'd gotten there so fast. Damn Karma. But Alice's vision, this guy, he was . . . Charlie couldn't possibly comprehend, and I couldn't tell him. Even if he did know, Charlie would do _everything he could_ to protect Catherine. I knew there was no way he could. _The family _knew. And according to Alice, it would kill them both.

For a brief minute, I selfishly wanted to tell him I didn't like her, to stay away from her, because in my head, I reasoned that it might keep him alive.

_Oh, the irony!_

Seeing them together, seeing Charlie actually _happy_ again, made me think of Edward and me. I wanted Charlie to stay away from Catherine just as he had wanted me away from Edward. How everyone, _including_ Edward, had wanted me to stay away from Edward, for my own protection.

I parked the car a few blocks away, and ran to meet up with Alice and Edward. I found them a mile or so behind my father's house. From the looks on their faces, I was positive they'd heard everything, and for the first time since becoming a vampire, I thought Edward would not be happy with me. I couldn't look him in the eye, so I focused on an ant parade I'd spotted.

"Bella, it's okay. Although I can't tell exactly what he thought, his emotion now is one of resignation. I think he accepted the need-to-know status. I don't think he'll be asking you any more questions." It was not the reaction I'd expected, and I was grateful for that.

"How did it go otherwise? Could you read her mind?" If there was any way of truly finding out about this woman, it would be Edward's ability.

"Yes. Clear as day. But she's very intuitive." He half-grinned at me.

"What do you mean?" At this, I looked up.

"She thinks you have an eating disorder." He and Alice both chuckled.

"Yeah, Bella. You'd think you would have figured out a better way of pretending to eat other than pushing your food around on your plate, or crushing half a sandwich into dust and putting it in your pocket." She looked at Edward, and they both broke into laughter again.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out what was left of the sandwich, letting the dust fall to the ground. "Well, I'm sorry. I was just so . . . I haven't had practice in ages doing the human stuff, and I was trying to be polite, and worried about you two out here, and. . . This isn't funny, you know. I may have screwed this up." I crossed my arms and twirled around to face away from both of them, thoroughly disgusted with myself. Edward's hands were on my shoulders within moments.

"Bella, it's okay. Really. She's not going to mention it to your father, although she's very concerned for you. She just doesn't think it's her place to ask, and that's good, because Charlie won't have to explain anything. It's amazing what she noticed about you, though." He twirled me around in order to look me in the eye, first planting a reassuring kiss on my forehead.

"What? What did you hear?" Maybe she didn't like _me_.

Edward laughed. "She thought you were beautiful. That she'd never seen your color eyes before." He stopped and studied my face, seemingly in agreement with Catherine. "That might be a problem, though."

"Why?"

"Because she saw your other pictures on the wall. She thought you had brown eyes. You're going to have to tell her you wear contacts that color." I gasped as Edward pointed toward my eyes.

"It's okay, Bella. I don't see her asking Charlie about them," Alice said, comforting me.

Edward hugged me to him. "But she could tell you and Charlie have a close bond."

"Really?" I asked, shocked, looking back up at him.

"Yes," Edward grinned.

Alice skipped over to my side. "Bella, she seems lovely. Edward said she told you she likes to shop. I hope we can . . ."

I had to stop her. "Alice, we can't. I mean, maybe, someday. But . . ." I thought about what Edward had heard. Catherine was sharp. If we ever did all get together, she would probably figure out in five minutes something wasn't right. I imagined a dinner with the two of them, Edward, Renesmee, and I. Edward and I not eating a bite, Renesmee not happy about having to eat something not on her list of favorites, and Charlie about to jump out of his skin. How would we explain Renesmee's age to her?

It definitely wouldn't be a Rockwell painting.

"Wait. What about the guy? Did you see anything? Any clues?" I wished they'd tell me they'd pulverized him.

"No, no sightings, although Alice did find a scent, an old one, in the front across the street. One of us, but a few days old. If it's him, which I think it is, at least we know he wasn't here recently."

"So he knows where my Dad lives." That wasn't good news at all. I left Edward's arms, staring at the ground, feeling helpless.

I felt his gaze following me. "That was inevitable, especially if he's tracking Catherine, which I think he is. I don't think your father is the target, otherwise there would be more recent scents here. Something about Catherine is his focus." Edward's attempt at reassurance didn't work, although I tried to fake that it did by changing the subject.

"What else did you see in Catherine's mind? I mean, is she okay? Good enough for him?" I searched Edward's expression, if only to make sure he didn't try to lie to me.

"I could only see what she was thinking in the moment, but from what I could tell, she truly cares for him. She panicked when he came back in from talking to you. Your slip was written all over Charlie's face, but she took it as you didn't like her."

_Why would she think that?_ "Didn't like her? I told her . . ."

"Yes, Bella, but she thought that you might have said differently outside, and that that's what Charlie was worried about. She was afraid if you didn't like her, he might let her go." Edward looked well past me, staring at some distant spot in the woods, and I didn't ask what he was thinking, wondering if he'd heard more than he was letting on. While I wanted to learn as much as I could about this woman, Edward had always been uncomfortable about all he could hear.

"Alice, how come you didn't see any of this?" My hands went to my hips as I now focused my attention on her. I realized she'd conveniently stayed quiet throughout most of the conversation.

"I did. I just didn't tell. I knew it would be okay, and I didn't want to worry you more," she admitted.

"But the slip? And couldn't you have given me a clue about the eating disorder?"

"Hmmm. Yes, probably. But then I wouldn't have anything funny to tell Emmett." She started to skip away. "C'mon, Charlie and Catherine are about to go for a walk out here. We should watch them and see if the guy . . ."

"Out here? Shouldn't we discourage them . . . somehow? I mean, we don't know if this guy . . ." Alice interrupted my babble barrage.

"Bella, remember, they're at a beach when . . . in my vision. I think, though, that you might want to watch this. That is, if you don't mind spying on your father's love life." She giggled and disappeared.

Ugh. I wasn't sure I wanted to see firsthand what Alice already knew about the walk Charlie and Catherine were about to take.

"C'mon. I think you need to see this." Edward took my hand.

"Wait. Did _you_ know? What Alice saw?" I asked accusingly.

"Yes, but not until very recently. She let me in when we were on our way over." He smiled and looked past me into the forest.

"Uh-huh." He caught my hand, and we took off together to find our hiding spot. I tried to accept the fact that I was just going to protect them, not actually _spy _on them. At least I knew that nothing bad would happen. Yet. But somehow I knew that this would be more uncomfortable than the sex talk Charlie had tried to give me years ago.

A/N:

What will Alice, Edward, and Bella _see_ when Charlie and Catherine go on their walk?

Dun, dun, duh.

Thanks for reading . . .

20


	12. Chapter 12

I won't babble. You can just get on with . . . reading.

As always, hugs, kisses, and thanks to my uber Beta, Jenny Cullen.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Finzi, A Severn Rhapsody, Op. 3

Charlie POV

"Charlie, are you sure?" We walked through the backyard, Catherine still not believing me about Bella.

"Yes, now c'mon." I kept her hand in mine, heading towards my favorite path in the woods behind the house. All of a sudden, she stopped and pulled it away.

"Charlie, I . . ." Her eyes were wide and darting around the trees. "I'm not sure if I want to go in there."

"Shit . . ." I muttered. I should've realized she'd be scared of the woods. ". . . I mean, dammit. Aw, Catherine, I'm sorry. It's just a beautiful walk, and don't worry, you're favorite Police Chief is right here." I took back her hand and pulled her closer to me.

"It's still light out, babe. He wouldn't dare try . . ." I took both her hands in mine, and held them between us, against my chest. "Besides, you were the one who said he was gone, right?"

She needed to get back on the horse. And I was starting to think she was right about the psycho being in Canada by now, especially when my guys hadn't found him.

I didn't let her hands go as she took another look around, scanning nearly every tree that bordered my yard. Her eyes finally came back to mine, her fear scaling back to a shy grin. "You're right. I'm being . . . stupid. Let's go."

She let go of one hand and started to run, pulling me with her. I let her run about fifty feet in, with me in tow, when I stopped and jerked her back into my arms. She wasn't expecting it, and crashed back into me, and I couldn't help noticing the feeling of her breasts smacking into my chest. Her mouth was open, breathing just shy of heavy from the run.

"You know, you've only kissed me once today," I reminded her, glancing at her pink lips with one thing on my mind.

"Actually, twice, if you count your hello kiss when I first got here," she smiled and brought her arms around my neck.

I didn't waste another second. I took her lips with mine; first the top one, and then the bottom, eventually twisting my mouth, insisting that I find that sweet tongue of hers. I felt like I couldn't get her close enough to me, against me, and held her tighter still. I knew I never wanted to let her go. Bella or no Bella.

Suddenly, she pulled away, giggling. "While I do love your kisses, Chief Swan, we're never going to get anywhere if we stand here making out like a couple of teenagers." She started walking away, and gave me the pleasure of watching her behind shimmy as she did so. I didn't move, staring at it, at her, like the under-sexed, over-horny man that I was becoming.

"Hey, you're supposed to be next to me, Mr. Policeman, not taking in the view from behind." She didn't even turn around.

Busted! I quickly jogged up and laughed, taking her hand. It was so small, and yet . . . so strong.

I don't know how long we walked. She told me more stories of her family and life back in Chicago, and how I was going to have to learn how to play golf "if this thing was gonna work." _Me? Golf?_

I told her of Bella's childhood summers with me, some God-awful dating stories I could laugh about now, and the mischief that Billy Black and I used to get into when were kids. She laughed the hardest about these, and I realized I'd never heard it before; at least, not the deep, gut-busting kind she was having at mine and Billy's expense.

"God, you were awful. I thought my little brother was bad," she said through deep breaths, holding her stomach with the hand I wasn't holding hostage.

"We were quite the, uh, team. I'm amazed my mom and dad lasted as long as they did."

"I am, too." She was still giggling.

We walked a bit more, neither of us saying anything. It was a good quiet - comfortable. I couldn't help but watch her, letting her lead, noticing her confidence come back with each step.

Suddenly, she said, "So they're both gone?"

"My parents?" She nodded. "Yeah, quite a few years ago. My dad first, and then my mom." It wasn't rough telling her. I wanted her to know everything about me, as if we could make up for the twenty some-odd years we'd missed being together.

"Ya know, you're lucky to still have your mom," I said as I swung her hand.

"Yeah. She's my best friend. And my sister, of course. I feel bad sometimes for my brother. I think he sort of gets shafted with the amount of estrogen he has to deal with, what with a wife, two sisters, and a mom."

"Yeah, I feel for the guy. And I only know _you_." I laughed and pulled her toward me, bringing her fingers up so I could kiss the back of her hand. As I set it free, the wind blew a stray curl across her cheek, and I couldn't help but push it away. I let my thumb run across her cheek, down the side of her face, until I tilted it up, bringing her mouth to mine. I gently brushed my lips across hers, and something went zinging through me, as I felt her tug handfuls of my shirt at my side.

I left her lips and chuckled as I saw her head tilted back, eyes still closed.

"Don't stop," she whispered.

I snuck a look at my watch. "Well, if you don't want to be out here when the sun starts to go down, we should start heading back." Her eyes popped open on that, so I let the one side of her go. The one arm still around her guided us both back the opposite way.

"So, what's on the docket for tomorrow?" she asked.

"Another surprise." I knew it would be even better than the last.

"Really? Geez, Charlie, you sure know how to spoil a tourist." I heard her smile, even though I couldn't see it. "What should I wea-"

"Totally casual. Wear whatever," I interrupted, and shook my head, chuckling again.

"Um, okay." She stopped mid-step and turned toward me, putting her hand to my chest, rubbing back and forth. "I just want you to know, this is . . . this is the best vacation _ever_." She gave it one last pat, and then turned to walk alone, ahead of me. I could tell by her face before she turned that she had wanted to say something else to me, but was trying to figure out how, so I just fell in step behind her.

We walked for a good ten seconds before she finally spoke. "I didn't tell you the whole story when you asked me why I'd chosen Forks."

"Oh?" I asked, surprised. Since I couldn't see her face, I had no clue where she was going with this.

"Yeah. Forks was kind of a fluke. It just happened to be on the map near Seattle. You see, I think I was sort of having this mid-life crisis. Between my job and not knowing if I wanted to do it anymore, my life and the crappy way I think it's turned out, and the fact that I was . . . alone, I needed to just get away, from everything and everybody and . . . find myself again. I had this inkling that something was just around the corner, that something was going to happen to me, something life-altering. That's when I met you on the side of the road." She kept walking, not turning around, and I stayed behind her.

"I think . . . I think I was meant to meet you. I don't know why, and frankly, I don't care. Because, I . . . I'm really glad I did." She stopped, and I saw her hand go to her cheek, wiping at it. It took me two steps to touch her shoulder. She turned, wrapping her arms around my waist, and buried her face in my chest.

"Charlie, I'm not crazy, am I? Please tell me . . . you feel it, too?" she whispered into my shirt.

I brought my hands from around her shoulders to her tear-streaked cheeks, lifting her face to mine. I didn't know what to say. The naked fear in her eyes, the pinched vee above her nose, the way her lips were parted, waiting for me to respond. I mean, I_ think_ I knew what to say. All I did know was that beating thing in my chest felt like it was going to explode.

"I-I do. I . . . thought _you_ would think _I _was crazy if I . . . said so." The corners of her mouth turned up, and I realized I'd said the right thing. It was like a hundred-ton weight lifted off my back. I brought my mouth crashing down to hers, and it was all I could do not to throw her down on the ground and make love to her right there. Somehow, someway, I wanted this woman with me, for the rest of my pathetic days on this earth.

She tilted her head back, a huge smile on her face. It made me incredibly happy to know I'd put it there.

"We're never going to make it back at this rate. Don't you want to watch the Mariners' game for awhile before I go back?" I stared at the back of her as she started walking again.

_Whaaat?_

"Go _back_? Why?" Okay, yeah, I wanted her to stay for the obvious reasons. I could admit it.

"Because." She didn't even turn around.

I jogged to catch up to her. "Because why?"

"Because all my stuff's at the cabin. Besides, we haven't seen him, _I _haven't seen him, since . . . He's gone. Poof." Her tone told me she was growing more and more confident about that fact, but she stopped again, and stared at the forest floor. "And as much as I'd _like_ to jump the bones of the Police Chief, I would also like to, um, play the role, here."

I grabbed her hand and gave it a slight tug towards me, if only to see her face. "Role? What _role_?" Her cheeks were a light pink, and I wasn't sure if it was from our walk, or because she was blushing.

"You know. _Respectable._ Charlie, I've known you all of five days. You really think I'm gonna sleep with you, having known you only five days?" She pulled away and started walking again. _Was she playing hard to get with me? What the hell did she mean by respectable?_

"How can I know you're not another psycho or something?" She sounded absolutely serious.

I held up mid-step. "Are you _kidding_? What _you_ just said . . . what_ I_ just said . . ."

Talk about mood swing - like that carnival ride - the big ship that goes back and forth. "I don't think I'd introduce you to my daughter if I were a psycho, would I?"

She confounded the hell out of me, but I remembered I'd compared myself to her real psycho not two days ago. Of course. This wasn't hard to get. This was self-protection. The woman was cautious. Guarded. And after her confession the other night, I could understand that. I'd had more time to . . . resolve things, not that I ever really had, if I was being honest with myself. Renee, some bad dates, Sue . . . yeah. I thought of the women in my immediate past, and the memories were there . . .but getting fuzzier.

"Hmmm. Could just be a head-fake." She finally turned back to me, with a small grin on her face. "Hurry up, old man. Let's go watch your Mariners lose for awhile before I head back." I was sure my face gave away not only my confusion, but also my disappointment. Deep down, I knew she was right. I wouldn't force her to stay. I wanted her, yes. But I wanted _her_ to want to be with me.

I caught up to her and took her hand one more time. "All right. You win."

"I usually do," she laughed.

"But I'm still calling Humphries and Jackson . . ." I said, kissing the top of her head.

Bella POV

Alice, Edward, and I returned home, Edward having insisted on driving my car. I so rarely let him. He had his fast one, and no matter how hard he tried, I still liked my safe one, although it was still quite speedy. We hadn't even come to a complete stop when Alice bounded out, undoubtedly wanting to see Jasper, but most likely wanting to dish to Emmett my sorry attempt at humanness.

Edward opened his door to get out, and I said, "Edward, wait." He looked back at me as he slid back into his seat, closing the door. I wanted some alone time with him, so in case anyone was listening, I encased us both in my shield. I replayed Catherine's and Charlie's conversation in my head. Alice had wanted me to see it, and now I knew why. Even if neither one of them had said the word love to each other, it was obvious.

_"Bella."_ Edward was thinking the same thing I was thinking.

_"She likes baseball, and apparently plays golf. Although, I can't see Charlie playing golf."_ Even with my vampire mind, I attempted to process all that I'd heard, all that I'd seen, between Catherine and my father.

_"She's an interesting woman. But she's very cynical. I heard Charlie tell you that he hasn't felt this way since he was with your mother. That he and Catherine both have 'baggage', and that she's been hurt in other ways. I would imagine he means by men in her past."_

_"Yeah. What did you see after he came back in?" _Edward showed me Catherine's thoughts, her reaction to Charlie's expression, the one that I'd given him. She was quite sure I didn't like her, and that he was trying to soften the blow; absolutely terrified that he might let her go, because of me.

_When Charlie came back from talking to you and she saw his expression, I think her heart stopped beating for a moment. She truly wants you to like her, because she really does love him. Bella, I know that feeling."_

_"So do I."_

I turned to him._ "What about Charlie? Were you able to? . . ."_

_"Love, Charlie's thoughts are as big a mystery to me as yours used to be, but I could feel the tenor of them like twenty foot waves. Trust me, we're both lucky we didn't know what he was thinking."_ Edward grinned slightly, gazing out the windshield.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked sarcastically out loud.

_"Let's just say his, um, general feelings are similar to . . ." _and in Edward's mind, I saw the replay of that first night I slept in his brand new bed.

"Oh. Oh! Oh, _eeew_." If I could still blush, my cheeks would've been a nice shade of magenta. Edward laughed heartily at what had been my naïveté.

_"I did find it somewhat humorous, though, in that she's, uh, holding him off. _Respectable_, I believe was the word she used. Like father like daughter, apparently_." He grinned.

_"Tarnishing my honor, Mr. Cullen?"_ I taunted.

His mind flashed the phrase "_if the shoe fits . . ."_

"Hmph_._" I crossed my arms, pretending to be offended, but I knew he could see right through me, when I glanced to see him grinning.

I climbed over the console, throwing my leg over his lap to look at him.

"Whoa!" he said out loud.

_"Mr. Cullen, I'd like to remind you just how much you've tarnished me."_ I glided my hands up his chest to his cheeks, forcing my lips on his, twisting my lower self against him as I felt my affect on him through his jeans.

_"Bella, while I would love to take you right here on the front seat of your car, the family is waiting for us. Emmett is about two seconds from running out here."_ He sent the thought to me as he ran his lips down my neck, his hands now pulling my behind closer to him as I wiggled unmercifully against him.

With my hands still on his cheeks, I brought his face back to mine and gave him one final kiss, sliding my tongue against his in a slow, steady rhythm, until I jerked back. I brought my leg from around him and slid back over into my seat.

_"Tease," _he said, grinning at me.

I tried to calm down, suddenly remembering how Catherine had joined in teasing Charlie with me at lunch, and then also on their walk. A tinge of regret at not being able to get to know her better tugged at my insides. As soon as we left, I might not ever see either one of them again. But as long as Charlie had her, as long as they were together, it would make leaving easier.

Charlie was in love; in love with a woman who was as just in love with him. I'd never thought I'd see it.

_"You're right, you know,"_ Edward said, staring forward again. "_Although I know it doesn't make it any easier for you. I get to bring my family with us. You'll be leaving part of yours behind."_

_"Edward." _I grabbed his hand and forced him to look at me. _You, Renesmee, and the Cullens_ are _my family, too. I can always meet Charlie without her . . . for awhile . . . until she gets comfortable with us. Until she understands. Something tells me she and Charlie are not going to end anytime soon. She'll have to learn the 'need-to-know' thing eventually."_

He turned back to look out the windshield, but rubbed his thumb tenderly over the top of my hand, his thoughts revealing distant memories. Me walking down the aisle at our wedding, that second time in the blue room on our honeymoon, and finally, when I'd gone after Jacob after he first imprinted on Renesmee. I laughed out loud, because I'd never seen his perspective on that one before. The love he felt flowed through me, giving me strength. Aside from being with Edward for eternity, I realized the choice I'd made, the sacrifice as Edward always called it, might actually _help_ Charlie and Catherine. It had to.

He turned once more to look at me, and brought my hand to his lips, kissing it softly.

"Edward, we have to stop this guy," I said with all possible conviction as I retracted my shield.

"We will, Bella. Let's go in and see the others, although you may want to go hide. Emmett knows," he said as he got out of the car. If I had just waited to take back the shield, I might have seen what Edward had. Ugh.

"Couldn't Alice have waited, oh, say ten minutes?" I asked, opening my car door and stepping out.

"Apparently not." Edward had already gathered up the bags from the trunk, and waited for me at the hood of the car.

We walked in to find everyone in the living room, Edward bringing my bags into the kitchen. Carlisle was in his chair, with Esme on the armrest, as usual. Rose sat in Emmet's lap on the other chair. Alice was on the couch, Jasper across the room. It was then that I noticed both Renesmee and Jacob sitting on the floor in front Jasper. Jacob was lying on his side, with Renesmee in front of him in the crook of his stomach, her legs crossed and head down. His hand softly rubbed her back. In the instant I registered the troubled look on her face, I knew. Someone had told her.

"Jacob!" Edward yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Jacob's hand stopped midway on Renesmee's back, as her eyes flew open to stare at him.

"Will you join me in kitchen, please?" Jacob's slight hesitation and a glance to Renesmee must have been a clue to Edward, as he added, "Now."

So it had been Jacob who told her. Dammit, Jake. I watched him as he walked by me, and my eyes told him everything I didn't say out loud. I'd let Edward handle this, and joined Alice on the couch.

"Okay, from the looks of it, I can guess that you didn't find anything else today." I knew Edward would hear if we discussed anything. He probably already knew.

"Aw, Bella, I just don't understand it. Nothin'. Not a scent, not a trail. Nothin'." I could tell by Jasper's expression, he just couldn't fathom it.

From the kitchen, everyone heard, "Edward, I'm sorry. Really. But she knew something was up. I . . . I couldn't lie to her anymore."

Renesmee's face twisted as Edward said with some authority, "Jacob, I'm her father, and she's still seventeen. You will follow my rules until . . ."

"Sure, sure. I understand," Jacob muttered, and then whispered, "Edward, you know I'll protect her. Protect her with my life," as if whispering would keep the rest of us from hearing. The silence from the kitchen was deafening to me, only because I was sure Edward already knew this, even if he didn't like it.

I couldn't let Renesmee stew anymore. "Sweetpea, please come sit by me." She got up and walked over slowly, staring at the floor. I couldn't imagine if, when I had been her age, a room full of my relatives knew everything that happened in my life. Or my father knew every thought that went through my mind. When she finally sat down, I wrapped my arm around her. "We'll talk about this later, you and me." I kissed the side of her head.

At that moment, Edward and Jacob decided to join the rest of us. Jake took his spot back on the floor as Edward joined Jasper just behind him.

Renesmee looked up at me, tears in the corners of her eyes. "Mom, I just wanted to know what was going on. I'm old enough to understand. And I want to help Grandpa Charlie."

"Absolutely not." The timber of Edward's voice scared even me.

"Edward." I shot him a glance. "The three of us will discuss this later." I glanced at Jacob, and he knew I meant he wasn't included. Edward and I both knew we had only a few months left with our daughter before she and Jake . . . I didn't want to think about that now. We had more urgent issues in front of us, like the lives of my father and Catherine.

"Edward, I think Renesmee should stay. Whatever happens, whatever we're going to do, it will involve her." I didn't have to throw my shield around him for him to know what I was thinking. Renesmee would be as far from the action as we could get her, which meant Jacob would be with her. His affirmative blink was all I needed.

"So Bella, when were you going to tell the family about this eating disorder?" Rosalie dug her elbow into Emmett's gut. Everyone giggled. Even Carlisle.

"Wow. Hilarious, Emmett. Gee, Alice. Did you kiss Jasper first, or did you go straight to Emmett with the news?" Her impish smile made me smile back.

Alice reached across Renesmee to shove my shoulder. "C'mon, Bella. Admit it. It _is_ funny."

Renesmee giggled. "Don't tell me you're on their side?" I joked to her, and poked her in the ribs to tickle her.

"Mom, really. From the way Alice told it, you were a disaster." Emmett laughed heartily at that, with Rosalie again elbowing him.

"I hate to interrupt this delightful family moment at Bella's expense, but we really need to concentrate on how to help Charlie and Catherine." Carlisle glanced up to Esme, squeezing her hand. Even in its simplicity, the gesture told me just how worried Esme was.

"So you found nothing? Nothing at all?" Edward was as dumbfounded as Jasper.

"Nope. We went all over the place. Clear up to the Canadian border," Emmett said dejectedly.

"I did find a trace of something at Charlie's, though," Alice finally spoke. "A scent, but nothing I recognized. Neither did Edward."

"It was a few days old. Nothing current. I'm pretty sure it's him, although I have nothing to base that on. I'm also quite convinced it's Catherine he's after, otherwise there would have been more recent evidence of him around Charlie's. He must have followed them there at one point, tracking Catherine. Although I can't for the life of me figure out why he hasn't just . . ." Edward stopped and looked at Renesmee, who instantly snuggled closer to me.

Jasper, who had been deep in thought staring at the coffee table, finally chimed in. "Carlisle, have you ever known of a skill like this? One of us being able to hide from our kind?" he asked.

"Only if they've moved far out of range, but even then, there's a trace, a scent. The closest skill I know of is Bella's shielding. But that's for the mind. When she does it, we can all still see, and hear, each other."

"Well, he isn't going anywhere in the near future, because the vision is still clear." Alice's uneasiness with stating the fact was evident, even as she did so.

_Did this guy have some sort of never-before-seen ability?_ "But even if he did, why her? Why Catherine?" I still couldn't think of any other reason than she was his singer.

"Good question." Jasper turned to Edward. "You've seen into her mind. Was there any hint, any reason at all?"

"The only thing that she was concerned about was . . ." Edward glanced at me, "losing Charlie."

"Dad, what's she like? I mean, is Grandpa . . . are they . . .?" Renesmee stopped and took my hand, showing me Charlie in a tux, waiting, as an unidentifiable woman walked up an aisle in a wedding dress. I smiled, threw the image at Edward, who responded with his own grin.

"Nessie, I'm not sure if a wedding is in their future, but I'm pretty sure they're in love. Neither of them have spoken the words aloud, at least not when Aunt Alice, Mom, and I were there."

Alice reached over to give Renesmee, sitting between us, a hug. "Don't you worry, I'm watching for it. When I see it, you'll be the first person I tell. Because then we'll have to start planning . . ."

"Alice." I reached over and touched her shoulder. "You are absolutely a force of nature when it comes to weddings." Alice had been right all of those years ago. With time, I had truly grown to appreciate all that she had done for Edward and me.

"We have to _dooo_ something!" Rosalie stood up and raced over to the patio doors in almost a blur, clearly frustrated. "We can't let this happen. They have a chance, a future . . ."

Emmett shot out of the chair. "Babe, we're gonna. We just have to . . ." He folded her into his arms.

"Yes, we _have_ to. If Grandpa is in love . . ." Renesmee's voice trembled, but her insistence shocked me, as I realized she'd been looking at Jacob when she said the word love. If my heart hadn't already stopped, it would have at that moment. Edward saw it, too, and even though he tried to hide it by turning away, he wasn't happy. Jake's eyes went from hers to mine, and then quickly to the floor. I was glad he hadn't seen Edward's reaction.

"But how? We can't even _find_ him," Rosalie said disgustedly into Emmett's chest.

"Ness, honey, I need to get you back to the cottage. C'mon, I'll help you do your homework so we can watch a movie. Your pick." Jacob looked at me for some sort of encouragement, undoubtedly wanting to get not only Renesmee, but himself out of there.

Renesmee's face turned to mine. "Mom, can I stay, please? I . . . I'm worried about Grandpa, too."

When she looked at me with the brown eyes that Edward said were so like mine, it was hard to refuse her. She would pester Jake with questions the rest of the evening. Let that be his punishment for telling her. That, and whatever Edward had in store for him. "I know you are. Let us figure this out, and as soon as we know what we're going to do, I'll tell you. I'll be along in a little bit." Her shoulders slumped, and she looked to Edward.

"Dad?"

"Your mother's right. But we'll both be back before you go to sleep. We all need to talk after Jacob leaves." Jacob slowly rose up off the floor, avoiding Edward's gaze, and came over to Renesmee, holding out his hand. But Renesmee ran past him and threw herself into Edward's arms.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry I . . ." she said, her cheek pressed up into his chest.

"I know you are. We'll talk in a bit. Go on." Edward kissed her forehead.

"I won't shift, so we can walk," Jacob said as Renesmee went to him and took his offered hand.

As they reached the patio doors, Jacob opened it for her, but Renesmee turned around, looking at each of us. "Please. Please find a way to save Grandpa. And Catherine." She turned back, and they walked out, holding hands.

I dropped my head forward into my hands, leaning over not for any physical reason, but because the worry I'd had for my father had just been compounded by my daughter's. Death was such a foreign concept for her when it came to us. She understood that Charlie would die someday, being that he was human, but for one of our kind to be the cause of it . . . especially now. It was too soon.

So wrapped up in my thoughts, I barely noticed Edward join me on the couch and wrap his arm around me. I leaned back into him, tucking my feet under me, and rested my head on his shoulder.

"So where do we start? Anyone have any ideas?" Edward said.

"We could just follow them. Follow her." Esme had been silent for so long, her voice surprised me.

"They were staying at the house, at least long enough to watch the baseball game, but it might be over by now," I acknowledged. I knew what Edward was thinking even without shielding the two of us. Catherine was adamant about going back home, eventually, not wanting to spend the night with my father. I inadvertently smiled.

"We know how Charlie loves his baseball. He found a woman that will actually watch it with him?" Carlisle's shock spoke for everyone.

"Apparently. She also wants him to learn how to play golf." Even Esme laughed at that.

"Yes, and she was quite, uh, stubborn in her . . . not wanting to spend the night." Alice giggled.

I suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. "This is my father we're talking about, Alice. Remember? You all don't need to know everything about their . . . personal life." It suddenly occurred to me the many similar conversations they must have had about Edward and me. I'm glad I didn't know then . . .

"Rose and I will run over there right now, just to see what's going on." Emmett's arm around Rosalie's waist pulled both of them toward the patio doors.

"Emmett! I swear to . . . if you even . . . if I find out you've seen anything you shouldn't have . . ." I started to get up, but Edward's arm held me back.

"Don't worry, Bella. I'll get him out of there if things start getting hot. I know how to distract the big boy." She put her hand to his chest and batted her eyelashes at him, pulling his arm and him out the door. That, I knew, was an understatement.

"I want Alice to take Carlisle, Esme, and me to where she found his scent. You two okay here for awhile?" Jasper asked.

"Sure. If we're not here, we'll be at the cottage. We have to talk to Renesmee, anyway." I didn't know which discussion was more difficult right now - Charlie or Renesmee.

Carlisle and Esme got up, and Carlisle walked over to stand in front of Edward. "Son, go easy on Jacob. You know how persistent Nessie can be when she really wants something."

"Yes, like mother, like daughter." Edward squeezed me to him and rubbed my head, mussing my hair.

"We'll be back in a bit." Alice danced out the door on tip-toes, Jasper following. Carlisle and Esme were right behind them.

Edward and I sat quietly for a few moments, me keeping my thoughts to myself, jumbling back and forth between why we couldn't find the guy, the _creature_, that was after Charlie and Catherine, and what to do about Renesmee.

Edward nudged me. "I wish I knew what you were thinking right now."

"I know you do," I replied. "Edward, I haven't been this worried in seven years," I finally admitted. I grabbed a strand of hair, fiddling with it as thoughts of Alice's vision flitted in and out, along with a new nightmare of the creature getting anywhere near Renesmee. "I could throttle Jake right now."

"Yes. I share that feeling," Edward confessed. "But Bella, she was merciless in her questioning of him. I saw it in his head. We should have known he'd cave. The only secret he's ever been able to keep . . ."

I interrupted, "Um, if you remember, he didn't even keep that one." Not only had Jake oh-so-long-ago spilled the beans with me, but he'd darn near given Charlie a heart attack.

"Ah, yes. You're right," he conceded.

I was only half listening, or I would have jumped on the fact that Edward had said I was right. I enveloped Edward in my shield, not wanting to be alone with the whirlwind that was my brain now. He heard as the questions kept coming.

_"How could this be happening? Charlie meets a woman, and all of a sudden she has a vampire hell bent on killing her? Was there a connection to us? Why? What had we done?"_

_"Bella, stop. Please. I can't . . . you're . . ." _Even Edward couldn't keep up with me.

_"I'm sorry. I just want to know why? Do you think there's a connection to us?"_

_"I don't know. There doesn't seem to be. He's kept well away from us."_

_"Exactly."_

_"What are you getting at?"_

_"Doesn't it seem a little strange to you that we can't find him? That he's after the woman Charlie's involved with?"_

_"Do you think he's here to draw us out?"_

_"I don't know. But you said it yourself, well, almost. If she were his singer, she'd be dead by now. So why the delay?"_

Edward started to replay the vision again, more for himself. I had no desire to see it again, so I withdrew my shield.

"We need to talk to Renesmee," he suddenly said. I looked over at him, and just as I did, Emmett and Rosalie came in the door.

"Nothin's happening over there. Charlie's on the couch watching TV, and Catherine must have gone home," Emmet reported, plopping down on the chair.

"Yeah. Everything looks fine. No one's going to be on a beach tonight. Well . . ." Rose put her hand on Emmett's shoulder, rubbing back and forth.

"Hmmm. Maybe we could get a glimpse of him if he's hanging out?" Emmett's hand came up to take hers, but something told me the smile on his face had nothing to do with tracking the creature.

"Yes. Yes, maybe we could. Bella? Do you think we should go back to Charlie's or . . ." I knew what she wanted me to say.

"No, I think Charlie and Catherine will be fine for tonight. Go . . . do . . . whatever you feel is necessary." I smiled at both of them. You'd think after all these years they could keep their hands off each other for one night. Then I thought of Edward next to me.

"We need to find out where she lives," Edward said suddenly.

"Yes. Maybe I could call the station. They'll know everything about her by now." Even if Charlie didn't.

"Okay, well, then we'll be seeing you all later. We'll, uh, check in at Charlie's on our way back," Emmett offered.

"Thanks, Emmett. We'll be at the cottage," I said, half paying attention as they went out the door again.

"Let's go talk to Nessie," Edward said, pulling my hand as he stood up. He knew I wanted to be near her, regardless of what needed to be said. Renesmee was now the same age as I was when I met Edward. What Charlie must have gone through, and not even knowing that Edward was . . . I remembered the times Charlie had tried to talk to me, and the many _more_ times he'd just left me alone in my room. How many nights Edward had spent in my bedroom . . . Were Renesmee and Jacob sneaking? . . . No, Edward would know, and he would tell me.

_Wouldn't he?_

It suddenly became crystal clear to me how much I loved Charlie. And how difficult the next hour or so would be.

* * *

**A/N**:

So, everyone, um, frustrated with Catherine and Charlie yet? I hear you, yeah you, the one shouting, "Hell yeah! Just get on with it!"

Alright. Alright. Just . . . hold your pants on. ;)

The Cullens - pretty blase about a vision and a vampire they can't find?

Maybe. Maybe not. He IS just one vampire . . .

And just what the hell is going to happen with Nessie/Jake/Bella/Edward?

Hmmm.

Ok folks. Time to fasten your seatbelts. The next four chapters are the cream to your coffee, the chips to your dip, the peanut butter to your chocolate. I will try to post quickly, but again, my perfectionist, and my mentor, may rear their ugly heads. Not to mention my wonderful beta, Jenny Cullen, might reach through the screen and throttle me.

Thanks, as always, for reading and . . . er, well you know.


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter is a longer one, everyone. So let's just get to it, shall we?

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Rodrigo, Concierto de Aranjuez: II. Adagio

BellaPOV

We neared the front of the cottage, and I reached out with my fingers to tug on Edward's arm, stopping him from going immediately in. "Edward, this is . . . a very important conversation. We can't screw this up." I said, chewing on my finger. Even as a vampire, even with all of the abilities I had, I was terrified.

"Yes, I realize." Edward said to the ground, running ran his hand through his hair. The ensuing silence while we both thought of what we had to say, what we had to do, and what might happen was like the calm before a storm.

I took his hand, his eyes meeting mine, and for a fleeting moment, I could see his apprehension. "Ok. I know you want to talk to Jacob. Could you take him . . . take him outside . . . away? First? Maybe if I . . . maybe if Renesmee . . ." I thought if maybe if the two of us could talk alone first, without Edward and Jacob, it might be . . . easier. But I felt uncomfortable at thought, simply because I just didn't know for whom – me or Renesmee.

"I'll try to wait for you before . . ." Edward wrapped his arm around me and led me toward the door.

"I know you will, love. I will try my best with Jacob. But you don't have to worry about us. I promise not to kill him." My head twirled to see his face, as he winked, and gave me a slight grin to ease my worry.

I took an unnecessary deep breath and walked in the house. Renesmee was curled up next to Jacob on the couch, her head on his chest, his arm protectively around her. Upon seeing us, she jumped up and ran over to us.

"Mom? Dad? Is there anything new? Did you come up with a plan?" Her head bounced back and forth between Edward and me.

"Jacob, we need to have a chat, you and I. Outside." Edward's head nodded toward the door, and Jake lazily rose from the couch.

"Aww. Here we go . . ."

"Dad?" Renesmee head went from looking at her father to back at Jacob. "What? Why? . . ." Renesmee quickly grabbed my hand showing me a scene where Edward and Jacob were arguing, which then turned into Edward thrashing Jake to clear out half of the forest. I stifled a laugh. At least Renesmee still thought her father could win the fight.

"Bella?" Edward saw my shoulders bounce.

"It's ok. Go. We'll wait for you here." I said to him, nodding my head for both him and Jacob to go.

"Jacob?" Edward held the door open and followed Jake through. I took Renesmee's hand and led her over to the couch, she sitting in one corner, curled up with her legs underneath, and me in the other. I stared at the coffee table, remembering the moment when they'd told me, when I'd realized that Jacob was forever bound to my daughter. How I'd wanted to . . .

"Mom?" Renesmee voice brought me back. "Mom, what's going _on_? I know something's going on. Why are you and Dad acting so weird? I know you're worried about Grandpa Charlie, but . . ." she hesitated and I looked up to see the completely puzzled look on her face.

Because we have something to tell you. Because you and Jacob . . .

"Renesmee, how do you feel about Jake?" I was going to have to dive in without Edward. He'd at least hear the conversation from Renesmee's point of view.

"Feel? About Jake? What do you mean?" Her eyes dropped to her hands, which were together in her lap, clenching and unclenching. She knew exactly what I meant.

"Darling, it's ok. He's been your protector since you were born. There's . . . he . . . has a certain attachment to you. And lately, your Dad and I have noticed that you seem to be growing . . . fond of him as well. Am I right?" She didn't look up, her arms now folded across her.

"Well . . . yeah. But . . . but _Moooom_ . . ." she suddenly jumped up and walked over to the fireplace, staring at the flames. "I mean, I can't . . . This is . . . _crazy_. I can't be talking about this with _you_. You're my _Mom_!"

"Would you rather show me? Maybe it would be easier. . ."

"NO!" She yelled into the flames.

So something _had _happened.

"Sweetpea, really. It's ok. Please come sit next to me." I patted the couch next to me.

She kept her face toward the fire, not even looking back. "No. You'll want to see . . ."

"I could see right now if I wanted to . . ." Her shoulders drooped as she walked closer to the fire, subconsciously thinking that moving farther from me might help her keep her secrets.

She grabbed the mantle with both hands, almost as if for support. "Ok. Yes. Something's going on with Jake and me. I'm sure Dad already knows everything. Why don't you just ask _him_ to show you?" Her head lifted from the fire and even from my position behind her, I could tell she was looking at a picture of Edward and her. She picked it up for a closer view, lingering for what would only seem like a second to any human, and then set it down rather forcefully.

"Because as much as you like to think otherwise, your Dad and I do try to give you some privacy. I don't see anything you don't show me, and your Dad, well . . ." I wasn't really sure myself, but . . . "your Dad tries very hard."

I could hear Edward and Jacob now even thought I knew they were miles away, both of their voices now raised in something slightly less than a heated exchange. Jake was adamantly saying it was time. Time for her to be with him. Edward voice was calm but menacing. Jake would wait until she was 18, in a just a few months, or he would regret it. Jake all but ended the conversation with the fact that he loved her, with no comment from Edward.

"Mom, I can hear them too." Renesmee suddenly said, slowly turning to face him. "I love him, Mom. I know what you're going to say, too. That I'm too young. That I don't know anything about love . . . blah, blah, blah."

She took two steps toward me, and ran her hand through her curls, the gesture mimicking her father's to perfection. "But you see, Mom, I do. Love is all around me." Her arm flew out from beside her in a half-circle. "Alice and Jazz, Rose and Emmett, Carlisle and Esme . . . even you and Dad. I've heard the story a hundred times, your version, Aunt Alice's version, even Aunt Rose's. Although I do like when Uncle Emmett tells about how Dad, um, struggled . . . with certain things." She giggled.

I would tear into Emmett if it was the last thing I did on earth.

"Renesmee, has Jacob told you want imprinting is?" Her eyes suddenly flew to mine.

"Yes. He explained to me about Seth and Claire, if that's what you mean?" she looked at me quizzically.

"But did he say anything else about it?" I had to know if he told her, and I wanted her to tell me, rather than coming by it by my own means.

"Mom, what are you getting at? What more is there to . . ." she stopped. Her face changed from confused to surprised to . . . one I'd never seen on her face before.

Anger.

She was remembering something and I got the distinct impression it was a moment with Jacob. It wasn't an expression I was accustomed to seeing on her face. I knew then that Jacob hadn't told her.

"Did Jake? Did he . . . with me?" Her hands were at her sides now, balled into fists. She was so smart. I felt a bit of pride in that at least Edward and I had done _something_ right.

I sighed. "Yes." I wanted to her to come to me. I wanted to hold my baby who was now no longer my baby. I wanted to cry a million tears I no longer could shed. But I waited.

"How could . . . why didn't I see . . ." She turned back toward the fireplace, as a knife went through my dead heart. She stood there for a long time, and I knew she was remembering, replaying what must have been times with Jacob. Just what they were though, I hadn't a clue. I smelled rather than saw her tears, the scent so familiar to me I could be miles away and know it. She suddenly turned.

"Why didn't you _tell _me?" her eyes flashed with even more anger than before. Just then, Edward rushed through the door, Jake nowhere to be seen. Edward looked at me on the couch, and then at Renesmee, seeing her tears. He took one step towards her . . .

"No, Dad. Do not . . . A hug is not going to do the trick." She said, backing away from him. Edward stopped in his tracks, his hands still outstretched, until he slowly brought one up to again run through his hair. His glance at me was filled with questions and panic.

"Ness . . . please try to understand. Your mother and I . . . well, we didn't tell you because we wanted you to . . . we thought you and Jacob . . ." Now it was Edward's turn to sigh. "Ness, we didn't tell you because we didn't know _how_. At first we didn't have to, you were too young to understand. We knew Jacob would always be there for you, protecting you. We didn't know if you would . . . grow to feel the same way about him. We wanted you to make your _own_ choices." Edward's frustration led him to start pacing.

"_Choices_? Choices about _what_? I didn't have any choices! I never even got to go to normal school! Meet people! Humans! All I've ever had is Jake, the Pack, and the other kids on the Reservation!" she yelled.

My breath caught as I stared wide-eyed at her. I'd never heard her raise her voice to Edward. Ever.

I jumped up from my seat on the couch. "Renesmee! Don't _ever_ speak that way . . ."

"No, Bella, it's ok." Edward's words effectively silenced me, but my hand flew to my mouth, as the shock that I had just said the often-heard, overused words of a typical parent of a teen. I glanced over at him and could tell he was trying to hide the hurt, but I could feel his dead heart breaking from across the room. He shuffled over to the couch, as if his real age had finally caught up with him, and sat down on the opposite end from me, dropping his head into his hands.

I sat back down into my corner, noticing the distance between Renesmee and Edward and I. Like an isosceles triangle, she was equidistantly farther from us, farther than Edward and I were from each other, and getting farther away each moment. I wanted to shout stop, rewind, or something to go back in time. Back to when she was a little girl, or at least back to walking into the cottage and starting this conversation over.

Her eyes burned with what looked like to me as something near hatred. "How . . . how could you? How could you keep this from me?" Her balled-up fists started to shake as the angry tears rolled down her cheeks. I was suddenly afraid that Jacob could storm in at any moment, being so attune to her, the tears a scent he could recognize as well as me.

Edward finally glanced up at her, over to me, and then back to her. "I'm sorry, Ness. We're sorry. But you have to understand, your mother and I were just trying to protect you . . ." Edward said almost pleadingly.

"_Protect_ me? Hah! More like _imprison_ me. _You _all got to go to school. Even you, Mom. What, were you afraid I would just attack some innocent human? By the way, you do remember I'm half human, too, right? Did you think I couldn't learn control the way you did, Dad? Did you ever think, _Mom_, that maybe some of your legendary control passed down to me? Do you know how many times Jake and I have come across them wandering in the forest? Did he ever tell you that I went after them? No. Because I didn't."

"I know." Edward admitted.

"Yes, Dad. I'm _sure_ you know. You know _everything_." She slumped down in Edward's chair, not saying another word.

I looked at what just minutes ago had been my sweet, loving daughter, rendered speechless by the change in her I'd just witnessed. The minutes ticked by, at least fifteen, as we all sat, Renesmee obviously seething, and Edward trying desperately to hide his distress. I wanted to go to him, to help sooth his pain, but I thought Renesmee might see it as a sign of Edward and I joining forces against her, so I stayed where I was.

From the corner of my eye, I caught her sudden glance at the two of us. "Mom, how long have you known Jake?"

With the simple sentence, Edward looked up at me with a warning in his eyes. I turned to look at her, trying to project a calm in my voice I didn't feel. "Since we were kids. You know that." I sensed she was going somewhere I didn't want . . . Edward and I didn't want . . .

"Were you ever . . . were Jake and you . . . you know . . ." She looked back into her lap. I was afraid she already knew the answer. I glanced at Edward who was still looking at me, and his imperceptible nod told me she did.

Dear God, how was I going to explain this? I took a long, unnecessary breath. "We were . . . yes . . . sort of. But Edward . . . your Dad . . . was always the one for me. Jacob felt at the time, because I was still human, that he needed to protect me. From your father, from . . . everything. Much like the way he does with you now. But sweetie, you have to understand. When you were born, it was as I didn't exist anymore. When he imprinted . . . you became his whole life. His sole purpose. Even if we _did_ let you go to school, go anywhere, meet someone else, it wouldn't have mattered to Jacob. He would have been there for you, most likely, even if you didn't want him to be."

Renesmee shifted in her chair.

I kept going, hoping her silence meant I was getting somewhere. "I know it's . . . strange to think . . ." I tried to think of comforting words. Words to describe . . . Strange for my daughter to think that the guy she's in love with was once in love with her mother? There were no words.

"Strange is not the word for it, Mom. Frankly, I think it's kinda sick." Renesmee said, keeping her eyes on some point on the floor, moving her arm to the armrest, and resting her head in her hand.

"Ness, you probably don't want to hear this from me, but if it means anything, he does . . . he does care for you. Since the first moment he saw you." Edward's visible flinch made me wonder if it was because of the words coming out his mouth, or the thoughts in Renesmee's head.

"I know you think . . . . I know you've only known seen animosity between Jacob and I, but a lot of that has to do with his imprinting on you as a baby. It was . . . difficult to understand and accept for both your mother and I." Edward looked toward her. He was trying so hard, and doing a better job than I was. I knew it took a lot for him to admit what he just told her.

"Are you sure? You're not just saying that because of what Mom just said?" she looked at Edward skeptically, and then looked away, the pinkness on her cheeks clueing us both in to her embarrassment at what she'd just asked her own father.

"Dad, just what _have_ you seen?" she asked, not looking at Edward, very intent on twisting one of her curls.

Edward looked at her and then at me. "Yes, Edward, what have you seen?" I fixed my gaze on him, telling him that I was not happy with the fact that I didn't know either.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I . . .well . . . I did see your first kiss, Ness. It was completely unintentional, and I apologize. After that, I tried with all of my might to stay out, to not see when you and Jacob . . ."

Renesmee's head went into her hands. "Great," she mumbled into them. I took the opportunity to give Edward a "Whaaa?" look, and he just closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Well, since you two seem to know everything already, and since I think I've heard everything, I'm going to bed." She got up from the chair, and went to her room, slamming the door behind her. It was the first time ever in her life she had not kissed or hugged Edward and I goodnight.

"Oh, Edward . . . what have we . . ." I crawled over to where he was sitting, letting him take me in his arms as he sat back.

"That did not go well." Edward attempted to joke. "I do so wish Alice could see her future," he said with a sigh.

"Me too." I felt him kiss the top of my head, and I felt compelled to ask what I knew he didn't want to share. "Edward . . . what else did you see? I mean, besides her first kiss?"

Since my head was against his chest, I couldn't see his face, but rather felt him looking down at me, the soft rub of his hand up and down my arm attempting to bring me some form of reassurance. "Don't worry, Bella. They haven't . . . Jacob's afraid of hurting her. It reminds me of . . ." he trailed off for only a moment. "She's been thinking about running away with him. But the thought of being away from all of us, you and me, keeps her here. I didn't tell you because, well, honestly I wanted her to come to the right decision on her own. I wanted to make sure Jacob wasn't pressuring her . . ."

"Was he?" I popped my head up to look at him.

"No. He never did. She's very much like you about things. Very stubborn. She's listening now, by the way. She just grunted because she knows I'm aware that she is." I laid my head back down and threw my shield over us. Renesmee needed to go to sleep, she had to be exhausted. I wished I could.

"_Me too." _Edward's arm loosened around me as I felt his head go back onto the cushion. "_We're going to get through this, Bella. I don't know how, but we . . . we have to – for her. But you and I, we're going to have to come to terms with her and Jake. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that, but for her I will. For her . . . and you. We have a few more months before she's eighteen." _

I could feel Edward trying to believe his own words, if only to make me believe them. A few more months. For Renesmee and Jake, yes.

"_But now we have to figure out how to save Charlie and Catherine . . ." _

CathPOV

The last vestiges of the day barely lit the western sky as I pulled into the lane that led into the lodge, Charlie insisting I should leave before dark. But I was so lost in my thoughts, I'd nearly missed it the entrance. I'd spent the majority of the drive thinking about the last few hours with Charlie, with Red's "Forever" and Paramore's "The Only Exception" the only songs I remembered playing in the car, mostly because they had been the last two to play.

While I knew Charlie wasn't happy about my leaving again, his mood brightened considerably when we settled into his couch to watch some of the game, using the term "watch" loosely as Charlie occasionally _distracted_ me, and I returned the effort just as successfully. His kisses, his touch, desperately trying to get me to stay, and my resolve nearly crumbling with the approaching sunset.

There had been a moment when my hand wandered underneath his shirt to his stomach, feeling the ripple of what I could only assume were some still-decent abs, and I fought the urge to test the waters even lower. Oh, I knew I had been unmerciful, getting a glimpse to what the future might hold as my hand accidentally brushed across the fly of his jeans. I giggled out loud, because it was pretty evidentwhat I was doing to him. But then I felt guilty, because I'd most likely left him quite uncomfortable. I hoped he, um, took matters into his own hands . . . er, hand.

Even still, I knew _I _couldn't wait much longer. But old fears died hard. Though something was telling me this was different. Charlie was . . . not like the others. I imagined being with him, the 27 ways I'd drive him crazy, and no doubt vice versa. And if I didn't stop thinking about _that_, I'd drive right off the road. Whatever surprise he had in store for me tomorrow, I _think_ I knew what I wanted. At least I knew what my body wanted, and his. It would be the end to what I knew would be another perfect day. Now if my head would just cooperate.

I parked my car in its designated spot, spying Humphries and Jackson as I pulled up. I really felt for those guys. They must think I'm a complete idiot. They must think _Charlie's _a complete idiot.

"Hey guys," I happily helloed as I walked up. "Anything new? Any bad guys lurking about that I should know about?" Sarcasm with a dash of cute.

"No, Ma'am. Nothing even remotely on the radar," Jackson quipped back.

"Terrific. Um, thanks for, uh, being out here again. Oh, and Ron, please don't _Ma'am_ me. It makes me feel sixty." God, I hated being ma'amed.

"Yes, M-m, er, Catherine. Sorry." I laughed at his near fumble.

I opened the door, flicked on the light switch, and dropped my purse and coat on the chair. I knew Charlie'd be waiting, cell phone in hand, for me to call. I went to get the phone out of my purse, when my eyes caught my bed sheets in total disarray, and some of my dirty clothes on the floor. I walked over to the clothes to pick them up, when midway down I realized that they hadn't been on the floor when I left. My hand jolted back as if I'd been shocked, and out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed my bed. Something pulled me towards it, noticing parts of the fitted sheet were pulled from the corners. Wait, I'd _made_ the bed this morning. Then, I looked closer at the sheets. There was something on them. . . something that looked like . . . Oh my God.

I felt my feet move two steps backward, but the rest of my body was frozen. Someone had been in my cabin. Someone had been in here. I felt the shakes start. Air, I needed air. I couldn't get enough into my lungs. Somehow, I was at the door, the last attempt at coherent thought said to tell Humphries and Jackson. The knob swirled in front of my hand, there were at least three, maybe four. Reaching for a middle one, I pulled. I pulled and jiggled the doorknob, but it wouldn't open, the damn thing felt like it was six-hundred pounds. My other hand pressed flat against it, begging. _Please._ A small voice in my head said _suck it up, Catherine_! With one last ditch effort, and with all the strength I had left, I swung it clear into the opposite wall. I held onto the frame with one arm, trying to steady myself, everything spinning in front of me, but I couldn't remember how to form words.

"Catherine? What is it?" Humphries started to walk towards me.

"Some . . . one . . .," the only thing I could get out before the blackness.

CharliePOV

I didn't know how fast I was going, and I didn't look at the speedometer to find out. I'd been expecting Catherine's call, when Jackson's number came up on my cell.

"The fucker broke in, sir." Jackson said.

"Broke _in_? Where's Catherine?" Please let her not be hurt.

"She's unconscious on the couch. She came out to tell us, and dropped in the doorway. Humphries couldn't get to her before she smacked her head on the armrest of the patio chair."

She'd passed out? She'd hit her _head_? "Fuck. Did you call paramedics?"

"Yeah, they're on their way."

I'd raced so fast to grab my gun and badge and get out the door, I didn't even remember hanging up the phone. I didn't care if I was in street clothes. The mother fucker had broken into her cabin. Catherine was unconscious. Breaking the sound barrier wouldn't be fast enough.

I called Larson and Jones to meet me out there. I wanted my guys on this. I knew that they wouldn't let me near this crime scene, even though I wanted to be there for every second of the investigation. But I couldn't let Catherine stay there. She would be messed up enough without knowing that all of her things would be held until processed.

My mind raced with all the possible scenarios, what could've happened if Catherine had not been with me today. What if she'd been alone? What if . . . ? No. I wasn't going to go there.

But I was sure of one thing. This break-in and the guy in the woods were related. No. It was the same guy.

_I'll be waiting for you._

Not on my watch, asshole.

I screeched to a stop in front of her cabin, and flew out the car, running to the door. Larson and Jackson had somehow made it there ahead of me, their unmarked car already parked. I looked through the open door, and saw her. She was lying on the couch, a blood pressure cuff on, and Jim Schultz, the paramedic, checking her pupils with one of those pen lights. She was still out of it.

I ran over and knelt down at the end of the couch, touching the only thing I could reach, her calf, because I couldn't get near any other part of her.

"How is she?" My professional voice did nothing to disguise my panic.

"Her pupils are reactive, but her blood pressure is elevated. I won't know for sure until she comes to. She's got a nice knot on the side of her head . . ."

"Charrr . . . lie." It was a mere whisper, but it was her. Schultz sensed my need to get next to her, and quickly moved out of the way.

I took her small hand, sandwiching it in both of mine, and noticed it was cold. Please don't be going into shock. "I'm right here, babe. Everything's going to be fine." Her eyes flew open, but as soon as they did, her free hand went to the bump on her head, and her face twisted in pain.

"Ow. Ugh. I feel . . ." Her eyes closed again, her hand went to cover her mouth, and she started to shiver.

"Like you're gonna puke?" Schultz read my mind and handed me a blanket and a bag. I had to let go of her hand for a split second to cover her, but grabbed it back as soon I had the blanket around her.

"Yeeeah." Her bottom lip quivered.

With my other hand I reached for her cheek, the back of my hand following the outline of her jaw, and then smoothing her hair from her forehead. I wanted to hold her in my arms, but I needed to play Police Chief first.

"Ok, I need you to do me a favor. You need to stay awake, alright? Can you look at me?" Her eyelids fluttered a moment, but then I saw her beautiful stormy blues intent on focusing on my face. I kissed the back of her hand, each of her knuckles, and I didn't give a shit about my guys seeing.

"Ch-Charlie. He . . . m-my c-clothes . . . my b-bed . . ."

"Shhh. I want you to lie here for a bit while I do my job. Ok? But don't close your eyes. I'm going to stand right over there so you can see me, alright?" I pointed towards the kitchen, but most likely wouldn't even go that far away from her.

"Y-yes," she said as she squeezed my hand. I looked toward Schultz and he only needed to nod his head. He would watch her as I tried to focus on the crime scene.

_Focus. Yeah, right._

Humphries, Larson, and Jones joined me as I walked about 5 feet away from Catherine. We would have to whisper, because I was damn sure she was not going to hear any of this.

"Somebody start talking, but make sure you keep it down." I nodded towards Catherine.

"No forced entry. Looks like he picked his way in. From what forensics can tell, he may have stolen some clothes, a shirt and underwear," Jones reported in almost a whisper.

"Underwear? How did they . . ."

"The amount still left of her, uh, dirty clothes. It doesn't look like he touched the stuff in her suitcase because it's still neat." Jesus. He took her underwear. Fucking sicko.

"Looks like he got off on her bed sir, but forensics will run the sample." Larson added. I knotted the fist of one hand, holding it in the other, nearly about to bust something.

_I'm going to kill this guy with my bare hands. _

From across the room, I heard Schultz talk to Catherine, "Do you know your name? Who's the president? When's your birthday?" She answered all correctly thank God, at least the first two. I'd never known her birthday until now. "He's right over there." She'd asked where I was and Schultz had shifted so she could see me. I kept one eye on her.

"Chief, we know you want to, but you can't stay. Let us handle this. We'll work with the locals. Get her out of here." So Jones wasn't as stupid as I thought. "You can take clothes for tomorrow out of her suitcase, but only one set, and try to take them from underneath in case he touched the top stuff. I'll get a bag and get stuff from her bathroom too. We don't think he ever went in because the door was closed and nothing looks disturbed, but we're dusting now. Hopefully, it will only be her prints."

"Did you get hers?" I knew the answer. I'd seen her fingers.

"Yessir."

I wanted to stay. I wanted to find every crumb of evidence this guy had left behind. But Jones was right. There was no way on fucking earth I would be objective, and I had to get Catherine the hell out of here. "Alright. But you assholes betters give me updates. I want fuckin' updates and I want them as soon as you have them. And if you don't call me, I'm calling you. And if I have to even fucking _think_ of calling you . . ."

"Don't worry, Chief." Larson cut me off, handing me a pair of latex gloves.

I knew where we were supposed to go tomorrow, so I walked over to the suitcase pulling on my gloves. I felt guilty going through her clothes, like I was violating her again. But I had to. I grabbed a t-shirt and jeans from the bottom, and then underwear. I tried not to react to holding her underwear, although she had a lot of pink. A LOT of pink. Soft and silky some with lace and…

I could not let my mind go where it wanted to go.

I handed the clothes to Jones, pulled off the gloves, and walked back over to the couch. I just hoped the bump on her head wasn't a concussion.

"Is she . . . can I take her, uh, with me?" I asked, feeling like an ass. They all knew she was coming with me, and where I'd be taking her. The Charlie Swan bachelor pad.

"Yes sir. I think she'll be alright. Do you have Tylenol at home?' I nodded my head yes. "Ok, good. Give her two every four hours. But she might get sick in your car."

"I'm not gonna get sick. I'm fine now. It's just a bump on the head." Catherine suddenly added. I smiled. She was feeling better. I could tell by the pissy tone of her voice.

"That's my girl," I said to her, giving her a grin to hopefully hide the anxiety that was eating me.

"Ok, I'm gonna help you sit up, but we're going to take this real slow, ok?" Damn woman tried to push herself up before I even had my arms around her. I quickly sat on the edge, grabbing around her waist to the small of her back with one arm, while catching her now-buckling arm with my other one, pulling her towards me as her face twisted.

"Man, this is going to be one hell of a headache." She rested her forehead on my shoulder, and I waited for her get steady again.

"I need to move so you can swing your legs around. I'm just gonna hop to the other side . . ." and I did as I was telling her, bringing the hand that was holding her arm around her back, and catching her as she leaned back into me. I ran my now free right hand lightly over the right side of her head and felt the bump. The size of a quarter, but raised like half of a superball. Schultz handed me a cold pack to put on it, and Catherine flinched as I held it to her head.

"Catherine, I want you to take these – they're just some Tylenol for the pain." Schultz handed her the pills and a bottle of water. She took them without making a fuss.

We sat like that for a few more moments. I knew she was watching everyone and everything around her.

"Ok, time to try and move." She peeled the blanket back and brought her legs to floor herself, but her head lolled back to my shoulder. "Whoa, not a good idea to do that so quick."

"Don't worry, I've gotcha." I put the ice pack down in order to free up my right hand. She had stopped moving and I looked down at her face to make sure she was still with me. Her eyes were open, but they were glancing around the ceiling. Shit. She was reliving it. I looked around the room to see who was there, who might witness it if she lost it. Schultz knelt to the right of me, putting his equipment away. Jones was in the bathroom, deciding what could be taken for her. Larson was with one of the forensics over near the bed, the other was in the kitchen with one of the locals. I assumed Humphries was outside because Jackson was in the doorway.

"Charlie, what if I'd walked in when he was . . . still here? What if I . . . what if he'd . . .?" She shivered and turned towards me, obviously ignoring the bump on her head as she dug her head into my chest. "Charlie, please. Hold me. For just a minute." she whispered. I grabbed her legs and swung them on my lap, bringing her as close to me as I could without hurting her or her head. I felt her one hand scrunch my shirt in the back, as the other clenched the fabric over my chest. Her sniffles muffled, I knew she was trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

"Guys, we're gonna skedaddle. Larson, Jones, I want every scrap of info as you find it. One of you tell Humphries, once he's finished up here, I want him to take Catherine's car to the station and leave it there. Jackson, I want you to handle things with the local guys and the lodge. This is isolated, I'm sure, but guests will be wondering what we're all doing here."

"I'm already on it, sir." Jackson went through the door.

"Chief, I'll get the gurney to wheel her . . ." Schultz started to suggest.

"No! I can walk. Just let me try." Catherine insisted into my chest. Stubborn woman.

"With all of the sports you've played, you've never gotten bumped on the head?" I half joked.

"No, I haven't. Not even when I played soccer." She tried moving her legs. "Um, Chief, you need to cut me some slack here if you want me to get up." She lifted her face to give me a courageous grin, but the tears left in her eyes gave her away. I let go with the arm that was around her legs, and she swung her feet down to the floor, taking a short breather. I grabbed her waist and slowly hoisted her and myself up. Schultz took a step forward and grabbed her arms as she wobbled and fell back against me.

"Ok, slight head rush."

"Stop and take some deep breaths," Schultz offered. She did, but then she took a few hesitant steps forward. I never let go, even when we both tried to get around the coffee table.

We made it to my car without any problems, although I knew she was dizzy by the way her head went back against the headrest when she sat down. Humphries had grabbed the bag, her computer, her purse, and put them in the back. He handed her the ice pack through the door, as I buckled her in. "Don't worry, Catherine. We'll find this guy." He left before I could turn around.

I slammed her door, ran to my side of the car and got in. I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, as her head turned towards me. "I know it's gonna be hard, but you're going to have to stay awake in this car."

"Yes, Chief." I turned the key in the ignition, taking one last glance at her, and got the hell out of there.

CathPOV

I tried not to think about what had just happened on the drive back to Charlie's, alternating on and off holding the ice pack to my head. My eyelids fought my will to keep them open, and Charlie tugged my hand each time he caught them closing. But it was his rapid fire inquisition that finally did the trick.

"Where were you born?"

"Chicago Heights, Illinois."

"What's your favorite flower?"

"Sterling roses."

"Who's your favorite Sox player?"

"Paul Konerko." I glanced to see his reaction to that one, and I could see the one side of his grin. "What? He's cute AND a terrific player." I'd let him stew on that.

But he kept going. "What's your favorite movie?"

"It's a tie. Gone With the Wind, Sense & Sensibility, and any Star Wars except for the fourth one. Or the first one if you're a purest."

"Really? I've only seen the Star Wars ones."

"Naturally." I sighed.

"What's your favorite song?"

"Which genre?"

"Any."

Ok, he asked for it. "Hmmm. Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto #2. Sting, 'Fragile'. Styx, 'Fooling Yourself'. Bee Gees, 'You Should Be Dancing'. Journey, 'Separate Ways'. Zeppelin, 'Hot Dog'. Garth Brooks, 'To Make You Feel My Love'. Sinatra, "The Way You Look Tonight'." I could truly go on forever.

"Ok, ok. Sheesh, I get the picture," as he half-laughed.

"You asked. Someday you should check out my iPhone if you really want to know. There's seventeen hundred plus of my favorite songs."

He suddenly got quiet.

I tugged his hand as I turned toward him. "What is it?" His serious expression scared me, but his eyes never left the road.

"You're staying with me until you have to leave. No arguments." He stated flatly.

Leave? I hadn't thought about leaving. Did I need a bodyguard? Hell yeah. My very own private one. "Charlie . . ."

"Catherine, please. Until we find this guy." He glanced over to me then and the anguish in his face sent a wave of . . . of something over me. Awareness? Recognition? But at that moment, I knew. I loved this man.

"Yes. I mean, of course. Charlie . . ." I waited until his eyes met mine, "There's _no_ _where_ . . . I'd rather be." I saw his shoulders relax a bit, so he must have been expecting more fight from me. Not anymore. Not about this.

We pulled up in front of his house, Charlie's one arm about my waist, my computer, purse, and bag of clothes in the other as we walked in. The dizziness had subsided, but I knew Charlie would be stuck to me like flypaper for the rest of the night. But I didn't mind. Not one bit. After setting my things down, he helped my up the stairs, and I realized he was taking me to his bedroom. I stopped in the threshold of the doorway and looked around. He must have been getting into bed when they'd called him, because the sheet and comforter were thrown back. But for a bachelor, the room was quite neat, even by my standards.

He led me toward the edge of the bed. "Here, sit here. Um, do you want to change into one of my t-shirts and sweats to sleep in?"

He looked anywhere but directly at me. My big strong police chief was now mildly nervous.

"Sure. And just what do I get to wear tomorrow?" I said jokingly, assuming that Charlie would offer me my choice of his wardrobe.

"I picked out some things for you from your suitcase, and Jones packed some stuff from your bathroom that he thought you might need. It didn't look like the bathroom was touched," he said as he walked over to his chest-of-drawers and pulled out what would be my pajamas, and came back to hand them to me. He was all business.

"Oh, ok. Thanks." I looked down at the clothes he just handed me.

"I'll just, uh, go downstairs and get you some water for the Tylenol you'll have to take in awhile, and um, let you change." I watched him as he walked out. Something was churning inside him, and I was pretty sure it was a crapton of worry over me.

I changed as quickly as I could through my throbbing head, and made it to the bathroom and back without catastrophe thanks to the wall that I used for support, scrubbing the black marks on my fingertips off as much as I could. Charlie was taking his time downstairs, probably already calling the guys to find out . . . I folded my clothes and put them on a chair near the window. They might be needed the day after tomorrow. Maybe I could use Charlie's washing machine to . . .

Then it hit me. The police had all of my things. They were going to sift through them to find clues because . . . because _he_ might have . . . touched them, or . . . I should've said all of the things that were_ left_. Oh I knew the guy had my clothes, my underwear, because I'd heard Charlie and his men talking.

My cabin flashed before me. My clothes on the floor. My disheveled bed. Whoever it was had . . . been in my bed. Had . . .

Jesus. This was fucking _real_, not some Law & Order episode. Some guy was after me, and I had no idea why. I reached for the edge of the mattress as the shaking started, the dizziness right on its heels.

_I'll be waiting for you . . . _

"Ch-Charlie . . ." His name barely made it out of my mouth, but it didn't matter. He was already in the doorway, and his hand with the glass flew sideways to the dresser dropping it down, sending water to the floor. In three steps he was near enough, so I threw myself into his arms clutching him to me, no longer able to control the tears.

"It's ok. It will be ok." He whispered in my ear, as his hand lost in the hair at the back of my neck held me to his chest.

"Charlie . . . I'm-m s-scared." There they were, in less than a whisper. Two words that absolutely never came out of my mouth, least of all to a man. I couldn't remember ever feeling like this. Utterly helpless and dependent on someone else.

"I know. I'm here." His hand slowly rubbed up and down my back.

Time stood still. In his arms, feeling his warmth, I knew I never wanted to be a fraction of an inch away from him. I felt . . . safe, and it was a feeling that cut against every independent bone in my body, yet I welcomed it . . . him.

"N-never let m-me go. Promise."

"Never. I promise," and his gentle kiss brushed the top of my head.

He led me over to the bed, where he let me get in, and then snuggled up behind me, my head in the crook of his arm. He was so close, I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against my shoulder blades. His one hand ran softly over my forehead, his other arm wrapped around my waist. I reached for it, and pulled his hand up near my chin, gripping tightly. My breaths were hampered by the sobs I tried to control.

"Shhh. You're alright now. He'll never find you here." He lips brushed my ear.

I couldn't stop thinking about it, even though I tried. "Charlie, was it the guy . . .the guy from the w-woods?" I asked the question that ran over and over in my head.

"We don't need to talk about this . . ."

"I . . . I _want_ to know. I want to know what _you_ think. _Please_." I begged him.

He didn't answer right away, as if he was struggling with telling the truth or sugarcoating it, and let out a huge breath before running his lips over the back of my head.

"I think so. But so far there's nothing to link the two." He surprised me with his honesty. I thought for sure he'd dodge the question.

I tried to think of what I might have done. I mean, I wasn't beautiful. Women my age just didn't provoke this kind of . . . did they?

"Charlie, why? Why me?" I clutched his hand even tighter and the tears came again.

His chest heaved as he let out another deep sigh.

"I don't know."

I didn't know either.

With the hand that I wasn't holding hostage, he brushed a strand of hair from my cheek. "Try to relax and get some sleep now. But I'm going to wake you in a few hours, in case you have a concussion. Ok?"

"What about you? How will you get any sleep?" I turned my head and shifted my back so I could see his face. His hand, the hand that I was clutching, was now conveniently between my breasts. He opened his fingers to skim my collarbone, his palm over my heart, undoubtedly feeling it racing.

"Don't worry about me. I'll sneak some in here and there." I searched his eyes, remembering how I'd first thought of them as a warm velvet blanket. I could see the worry in them, and I felt guilty for causing it. He'd been nothing but wonderful since he'd pulled up on the side of the road. Little did he know at the time what he was stepping into . . .

"Charlie, I'm so sorry." I dropped my eyes from his, shaking my head back and forth. "If my car would never . . . if you hadn't pulled over . . ."

"Stop. Don't." I felt the fingers of his other hand brush across my forehead, and their pressure pull my gaze back to his.

No. I didn't want to think about not having met him, even if some freak was after me. I might be dead by now if I hadn't.

Even though his eyes were softer now, looking back at me, I could still make out the concern he was trying to hide. I glanced at his lips as I realized he needed comforting too. "Charlie, kiss . . ." I didn't finish, his lips meeting mine in a feather-like kiss, perfect in its simplicity.

He lifted his head back, searching my eyes, wanting to say something that seemed trapped on the tip of his tongue. "Catherine, I . . ." He dropped his head and shook it slightly back and forth. "If something would've happened to you. If . . ." I let go of his hostage hand with one of mine, and brought it to his cheek, rubbing my thumb across the prickly stubble there. He was as big a mess as I was.

"Shhh. I'm here now, and you promised you wouldn't let me go. My knight-in-shining-armor." I gave him a smile to put him out of his misery, and tried to raise my head to kiss him but a dull pain made me wince and put it back down. But he knew what I wanted. His parted lips met mine, his tongue slow but desperate. My hand traveled from his cheek to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, wanting so much more, until suddenly he yanked his head away.

"Sleep." He ordered in his Chief voice.

"Yessir." I smiled, not really wanting to take my fingers from his hair. I maneuvered back onto my side, snuggling closer into him, and took his still hostage hand in both of mine again. His heavy sigh the last thing I heard.

CharliePOV

The cell phone vibrating in my pocket woke me. I glanced over Catherine's head at the clock. 2:30. I quickly pried myself away from Catherine, not really wanting to leave her alone. She was out, and I was hoping she stayed out while I went downstairs. But as soon as I got this news, I needed to wake her.

I left the door open a crack and raced down the stairs, glancing at the number. It was Larson.

"Larson, this better be good news." My gut told me it wouldn't be.

"Chief, uh, I'm afraid it's not. So far, there's nothing here. No prints, no hairs. Just what the guy left on the bed. And that will take at least a week for the lab to . . ."

"I'm well aware of the speediness of the lab, Larson." Even if I called in favors, I knew he was right.

"We're taking her clothes, the dirty ones because we know he touched them. I just wouldn't hold my breath, sir. He obviously was wearing gloves."

Damn it all to hell. "Ok. Make sure someone gives me a call when she can have everything back."

"Yes, sir. They're still working on the place, and I imagine it will take into late morning, but you might be able to come by and get the stuff we don't take in."

"Alright. We'll most likely swing by tomorrow after, uh, our plans." That is, if Catherine felt up to it. "As soon as we get her things, she won't be back there. Oh, and I'll be out at least until next week, but I'll call Tracy and tell her." I knew I didn't have to spell out to Larson that Catherine would be with me.

"Sure thing, Chief. I'll call if there's anything new, don't worry. How's she doing?" I mentally made a note that Larson's next beers were on me, just for asking.

"She's . . ." Catherine's scream shot through my soul. "I gotta go," and closed my phone before I heard a reply. I raced up the stairs, taking two at a time, flinging the door open. Catherine was gasping and crying _no_ while pushing up against the headboard, her eyes still closed, kicking her legs at something. I flew across the room.

"Catherine, Catherine, wake up. It's me." Frantic, I grabbed her shoulders, but she twisted away. Shit! She might hit her head again.

She'd moved to the far corner of the bed, her arms still pushing away at something, crying and sucking air. "Catherine! It's Charlie!" Suddenly, she stopped thrashing, her cries becoming a whimper. Her eyes slowly opened, looking around the room disoriented and scared shitless.

"Catherine?" I reached my hand out, and held it out for what seemed like forever. She looked at it, and then up at me, letting out a huge sigh/howl as she crawled to me. I met her halfway, and she flew into my arms. Her one hand clutched the spot between my neck and my shoulder, while the other took handfuls of my shirt in the back, tugging, as if making sure I was real. I pulled her legs toward me and cradled her, rocking her back and forth, her sobbing against my neck ripping at my heart.

"Shhh. It's ok. You're ok. It was just a dream." I kept on rocking her, shushing into her ear. "I'm here, babe, I'm here." I suddenly remembered the many times I'd run into Bella's room doing the exact same thing.

"He was . . . going to . . . kill me," she said through the sobs. Her other hand went around my neck, squeezing me to her, and I felt the wet tears on my skin as she burrowed her face against my neck.

"He'll never get near you. I promise." He would have to kill me first.

DamianPOV

Bloody hell. He clung to the side of Charlie Swan's domicile, furor shooting through his veins, spying through the window his Catherine in the arms of Charlie Swan. His proximity to her, to _them_ . . . It was bad enough earlier in the day when the Cullens had made their presence known. Thank goodness when he arrived his cloak had been fully operational as it allowed him to arrive and depart unseen. But their proximity to both Charlie Swan's domicile, and himself, brought upon a new urgency. Departing the sight of Catherine had been difficult enough. But now, upon returning, his eyes burning with the vision in front of them, he grew impatient. He should just rid the world of both of them. This very moment. It would end his misery, and his mission. The outside world no longer held any interest. His destiny lied within the walls of Volterra, and alongside the highest echelons of the Volturi. He momentarily ran the scenario in his head. Shards of broken glass, Chief Swan's lolling head in the corner, separated from his torso on the floor. Catherine's worshipped and drained body strewn across the bed. It could feasibly resemble any intruder.

But no. He would not take her in Charlie Swan's own bed. The mere thought tore at his lifeless innards. He'd already chastised himself for his blunders at her quarters. The leaving of hints of his visit, traces of his passion for her, a monumental gaffe. Aro had made it quite clear that he should refrain from any contact with the Cullens. He had also been adamant in his orders that Charlie Swan could not be killed. He would not, could not, afford another error in judgment.

He silently descended and pulled her keepsakes from his pocket, holding their sweet scent to his nostrils as he sped back into the forest. He overheard Charlie Swan say they would eventually return to her quarters. Yes. It needed to be there. The place where he'd first touched her, spoke to her. It must be there. The delay would make his final triumph all the more gratifying.

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Sooooo...

What did you think of Bella's and Edward's first parentally-challenged moment?

How did everyone feel about our favorite Police Chief?

When, if ever, will they, er, yeah?

For all of you still with me, I think I can say, without hesitation, the next chapter will put you out of your misery. ;)

Thanks as always for reading.


	14. Chapter 14

**Another long chapter for all of you. But this time...this one, well, I hope you're satisfied at the end of it. The last section, Charlie and Catherine's POVs, was the third part of this story I wrote. Oh, they've been tweaked, edited, expanded upon, etc. since that first version, simply because there are just moments when I just can't let the man go. ;)**

**The song choice, Khachaturian's Adagio to Spartacus and Phrygia, has been their theme song since probably day 5 of writing this. I hope you take a listen.**

**See you at the bottom...**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Khachaturian, Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia

CharliePOV

I stood looking through the patio doors of her cabin. I could see her outside in the darkness, slowly walking backwards as a man with a dark hood over his head took step after step toward her. I saw her mouth form my name, and I pounded on the glass. "Stop! Police!" But it was if they couldn't hear me, couldn't see me. I tried the glass door, but it wouldn't budge. There was no lock. I sprinted to the front door, but it was stuck. Again, no lock. I flew back to the window, and he had his hand around her neck, forcing her up, almost off the ground.

I looked around the room for anything I could use to break the glass, and grabbed the nearest thing – a lamp on the table. I swung the metal base like a baseball bat at the glass, but it bounced right off with not even a crack. I dropped the lamp, my eyes scanning for Catherine, when I realized she was on the ground not moving. He was kneeling over her.

_Fuck!_ I pulled my gun, took two steps backward, and shot at the window. The bullet just stopped and fell to the ground.

"What the hell?"

I ran back to the window, pounding on it with my hand, yelling, "Catherine! Leave her alone! Catherine! . . ."

My whole body twitched, when I realized Catherine's head was on my chest, her leg thrown over mine, her toes pressed against my calf. I let my head fall back on the pillow, and clutched at her shirt with my hand that rested on her back. She was here. We were here. In my bed. She started to stir, and wiggled even closer, sliding her hand up my chest to stop near my shoulder.

"Was that an earthquake?" she asked dreamily, not looking up.

"Something like that, yeah." I tried to joke.

"Hmmm. Seems to me someone was dreaming." She said as she yawned. She started to roll over, when I tightened the arm I had around her.

"Stay right there." I caught her grin as her head popped up and she rested her chin on my ribs. I flinched when it tickled. "How's you're head?"

"Better than the leftover makeup on my face, and my morning breath, I'm sure." She said as she laid her cheek back down. I had to laugh. I hadn't noticed either. All I could focus on was her hair, her curls spread out from my neck, onto my arm on her back. My hand moved up to play with one that had been tickling my forearm.

"You look perfect to me." She did, lying here. On top of me.

"What were you dreaming about?" she said lazily, rubbing her hand on my chest.

"You." Sort-of the truth.

"Hmmm. Like the other morning?" She kept her face down, but I knew exactly what was on her mind.

"For me to know." I lifted my hand to run my fingers through the hair that was mesmerizing me for some reason. She seized the freedom and rolled away onto her back, quicker than a cat. But she suddenly stayed very still, and I rolled over on my side to see her eyes closed.

"How's the head, _now_?" but I knew, and my fingers gently brushed the side of her head to find the bump. It was smaller, but still there.

"I just moved too fast, that's all. I'm ok. Really." She opened her eyes to see me staring down. "While I'd really love to kiss you right now, Chief, I want to shower and brush my teeth more." She rolled on her side, facing away from me. I nudged up to her back, wrapping my lonely arm around her, settling just underneath the two things my hand longed to touch. I kissed her bare arm, up my shirt on her shoulder, over her neck, and then to the bump on her head.

"Mmmm. Go back to my neck." I did as I was told, wandering about her ear too.

My attentions were having the desired affect as she let out a huge sigh. "We have to get up, you know. You have a surprise for me, I believe." I could see the corner of her mouth go up, so I stopped nipping at her ear and chuckled.

"Yes, we do. And it's 8:00. We have to leave by 10:00." And I waited . . .

"Ok. Can I shower first why you make the coffee?" I propped my head back on my hand. Ok, so I thought she would want, no _need_, more time to get ready.

"Sure." Her one arm pushed the mattress in front of her as she started to get up, my arm depressingly sliding from around her to let her. She sat on the end of the bed, rubbing her nose, and then running her hand over her forehead and up over her hair. I ran my fingertips over her back. I knew she was thinking about the last 10 hours.

"You ok?" I wanted her to be. I wanted to take her mind off everything that had happened.

She turned to me. "Yeah." Her shoulders lifted as she took a deep breath, closing her eyes, my palm rubbing her back. "But I just realized I don't have a toothbrush, do I?" She slowly stood up, checking her balance, and went over to the bag that Jones had put together, rummaging through it. "Nope," she confirmed.

"There's an extra one under the sink. Brand new." I said.

"Really? Expecting a guest?" she grabbed the bag and started for the door, mildly pissy.

"No, the dentist. He gives out new ones every time I go." She was halfway through the door when she stopped midstride and poked her head back.

"Oh," she said, and disappeared around the corner. I smiled. Yeah, like I had so many women I'd keep an extra toothbrush around just in case. God I loved the way her mind worked. I listened as I heard her rummaging for a towel in the linen closet. She hadn't even asked where they were, just went looking for it. Something stirred in my belly, and I realized I _liked_ that she was comfortable in my home. I wanted her to get _more _comfortable. Either that or I was starving.

I hopped out of bed and trotted down to the front door to get the paper. As I opened the door, I looked up and down the street, seeing if there might be anything strange. Anything out of place. Anything _wrong_.

_C'mon, ya fucker. Just give me a reason._ I grabbed the paper and slammed the door, bolting it behind me.

I went into the kitchen and started the coffee. Looking out the window, I hoped the weather held. I wasn't too worried though, because where we were going, the weather would be better than in Forks. I sat down at the table, and opened the paper, checking to make sure the story hadn't hit. Although my guys knew to keep this quiet, that didn't mean someone else wouldn't give the damn press enough info to run something.

Fifteen minutes later, I heard Catherine moving about in the bathroom. "Charlie, do you have a hairdryer?" she yelled down.

"Yeah, I'll get it for you." I ran upstairs, getting the hairdryer out of the closet. Pausing at the bathroom door, I thought about what might happen if I just opened it. What if my hand just twisted the doorknob? I could just open the door and whisk her back into the shower with me. _What was I, a 17-year-old kid?_

The door flying open made me jump. But there was at least part of the vision - Catherine just standing there in a towel, wet hair draping down her shoulders. My eyes went from her ankles, up her bare legs, the towel was just long enough to cover . . . then the lucky little corner of the towel that was folded back into that inviting space between her perfect breasts. I could just reach out and with one flick, have the whole damn thing down at her feet . . .

"Ahem, hairdryer?" her eyebrow went up, and my hand involuntarily went forward with the contraption.

"Um, sorry." I turned and went back downstairs. Man, I wouldn't get that picture out of my head the rest of the day.

About ten minutes later, I saw her walk past the kitchen fully dressed, and into the living room. What seemed like a half-an-hour went by and she still hadn't come in the kitchen. "What are you doing?" I asked, pretending to read the newspaper.

"Putting on some music." She mumbled sounding preoccupied. "Do you mind?" She then asked a little louder.

"No. What is it?" Now that I knew the thing held all of her favorites, something made me want to hear what was on it. I dropped the paper on the table, and walked out into the living room. She was kneeling by the stereo, iPhone in hand.

"A quick mix of songs I just made." She said as her finger touched the screen.

"Show me how this works." She started to explain, showing me how you just touched these little things on the screen, where the phone button was, how it held all these apps, yada, yada, yada.

"But what's the mix? How can I see the songs?" She touched a few screens and then handed it to me, bounding away into the kitchen. I read each one and realized some of them were my favorites. Zeppelin, Eagles, McCartney, The Police, even Clapton. But some I didn't recognize. I hit the spot in the corner that took me to the song playing – Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. Never heard of it.

I put the thing down on the stereo and went back into the kitchen. She'd poured herself coffee, and was now standing with my fridge door open.

"Can you hook that thing up in my truck?" I watched as she bent over to grab something.

"I don't know. I can try, though. I have a contraption that will let me run it through the radio if you don't have a jack." She turned around and I realized I had been staring at the tempting roundness of her ass.

"I'm, um, gonna go shower." I started to leave.

"Do you want anything for breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day." She smiled with a carton of eggs in her hand.

"I'll have whatever it is you plan on doing with those eggs."

"Good answer. Scrambled ok?"

"Yep." And I took off up the stairs. It would be the fastest shower of my life.

CathPOV

I knew one thing for sure, wherever we were going, it wasn't close. We were on the 101, heading back the way I'd initially arrived in Forks. Charlie thoughtfully pointed out the spot where we first met.

I'd figured out how to hook my iPhone up in his truck, and Charlie was singing "Anything For Your Love" by Clapton. He had a good voice, something akin to a few shots of whiskey and a half a pack of smokes, and it was amazingly sexy. The more surprising revelation being that he could actually carry a tune and that was more than I could say for the men in _my_ family. I smiled to myself, knowing full well what songs I had put on this mix and why.

. . .

He'd finished his morning ritual in about fifteen minutes, just long enough for me to scramble the eggs and get dishes on the table. As he walked into the kitchen, Nickelback, "Savin' Me" was playing.

"Hey, I know this one," he said, happy with himself. I just shook my head and laughed, my back to him as I went to grab the skillet with the eggs.

"Not yet." His hands squeezed my upper arms, forcing me to turn and face him.

"Good morning," he said as his mouth was on mine before I could even answer, tickling my upper lip with his mustache. He tasted like fresh toothpaste, as his tongue found mine. His lips traveled over my jaw, and down to the part of my neck that drove me wild, his hands following a path from my shoulders down to the small of my back, bending me into him.

"Good morning to _you_." My hands went around his waist and then into the pockets of his jeans. "Wait a minute. Turn around," I ordered him.

"What it's not enough to _hold_ my ass, but now you want to _look _at it?" He said, faking outrage, but turning dutifully.

Oh yes. Rock & Republics. Wait. Rock & Republics? "Charlie, where'd you get those jeans?" I asked suspiciously. Charlie would _never_ buy those jeans himself. Not after I knew I'd seen him in Levi's. Twice.

He spun back around. "Uh, Alice. Why?" I would send Alice a handwritten thank you note. I let my eyes wander to the gray Mariners t-shirt he was sporting, and walked forward wrapping my arms around him again to rest my forehead against his chest. How would I get through this day without attacking him?

"Hmmm? Nothing. They're spectacular. You're spectacular." His hands went to my cheeks, forcing me to look up at him. I kept my eyes closed, imagining sliding those jeans down, off of him . . .

I felt him watching me, and peeked at him through half-opened lids, grinning.

"Somethin' tells me I need to get more of these jeans" he grinned back, and the way he said it made my insides turn to goo.

I looked at those wondrous lips of his, and rose up on my tip toes to take them one more time. This time, my tongue did the demanding, being met just as forcefully by his. I felt him pushing me toward the counter, and then my back ran into it. His lips ran down my throat as my head fell back, and I knew he wanted to go farther, but my Sox t-shirt prevented easy access to anymore skin. His hands decided to go underneath it, and this time I more than wanted them there. I wanted them all over me. If we didn't stop soon, we'd never make it out of the house.

"Char . . . lie." It came out as one long breath. I didn't know why I'd said it, but he suddenly stopped and I brought my head back up to meet his eyes.

"Breakfast?" he asked innocently. He slowly slid his hands from under my shirt, every inch of my skin in protest, making me shudder. He noticed.

"Yeah," was all I could say. He went to get the skillet, and I dreamily sat down at the table. He put some eggs on my plate, then his, and put the skillet back on the stove, bringing my forgotten coffee with him. Sitting down across from me, I heard him chuckle.

_Snap out of it, O'Hara._ I shook my head and grabbed my fork, digging in.

After two bites, I asked, "Did you ever think about getting rid of that mustache?"

"Nope." He answered with his mouth full.

"Good. Don't." My grin gave away my thoughts.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going?" I tried to be nonchalant while taking another bite of eggs.

"Nope. But you'll figure it out eventually."

. . .

"Catherine? You awake?" Charlie's voice. _What?_ We were in the truck. _Dammit!_ I'd fallen asleep again, dreaming of what we would be doing when we got home.

I turned to look at him and smiled. "Sorry. I told you I can't stay awake in a car if I'm not driving."

He smiled back. "How's the head?"

_What? _Oh_, my _head_. _Yeah_._

"Fine. Absolutely fine." I giggled to myself. _They're both fine, Chief._ Well, one most definitely was, and the other _would_ be. I'd taken some Tylenol before we'd left, just to be on the safe side, but not since this morning had the knot on my head really bothered me.

I looked out the window. "Where are we?" I picked up my iPhone. It was 12:30.

"Seattle."

"Seattle? What the hell are we . . ." My eyes fell on his shirt, and remembered that Charlie was the one who picked out my clothes for today. And I was wearing one of my 20 White Sox t-shirts.

Wait. Was he taking me to a . . . "Are we going to a Mariners game?" I jumped up in my seat, well, as much as I could with a seatbelt on. A fabulous, from-the-gut, laugh erupted from Charlie.

"I've never been to their stadium. What's it called again?" I couldn't remember I was so excited.

"Safeco Field."

Charlie was taking me to a Mariners game. I could hardly contain myself. I didn't even care who they were playing. A baseball game with Charlie. Head over heels five times over wouldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling.

"Have you ever seen 'Pretty Woman'?" I suddenly shot at him.

"I've tried to avoid it all cost." Humph. I'd have to rectify that.

"Well, if I forget to tell you today, I had a wonderful time." He looked at me with an absolutely mystified expression.

We arrived at the ballpark with only minutes to spare, and I hated missing the National Anthem, so we ran all the way from the car to our seats, which were four rows behind the Mariners dugout.

We made it just in time to stand and sing, well, I did the singing, dropping into our seats when it ended. I took the chance to look around the field, and decided it was quite a nice ballpark. Not Comiskey, I mean US Cellular, of course, but the view out past the outfield was spectacular. As if a blessing from my Dad and God together, I spotted the beer man coming down our aisle, so I stood up flashing 2 fingers. I figured I didn't even have to ask Charlie.

"Wow." Charlie said. "A woman who knows how to enjoy a game." Charlie paid the man before I could get my wallet, so I just sat back in my seat. Seventy degrees, watching baseball, a handsome man to my left, and beer in hand. It didn't get much better than this.

"So Chief, how'd you get these tickets?" I took a swig of my beer, and watched as the Brewers got a hit.

"Called in a favor," he said noncommittally.

"You don't mind if I root for the Brewers, do ya? Since they're close to home and a rival of the Cubs?" I asked innocently.

"No. But be ready for unmerciful torture later after my Mariners win." he said with confidence.

_Ha. The likelihood of _that_ happening._ _I should bet him some cash, too._

"Care to put your money where your mouth is? How's 20 bucks sound?" I turned in my seat to face him.

"You're on," and he took my hand to shake it, then placed a kiss on the back of my hand. I laughed out loud at the effort.

"Gallantry won't get your money back when your guys lose." I turned back to face the field, taking another sip of my beer.

"Really. Well, I have _other_ forms of interroga . . . er . . . persuasion." I didn't look over at him, but I could see his body shaking and knew he was laughing.

The game was a good one, although the Mariners were losing to Milwaukee 3-1 by the fifth inning.

"Hey, I gotta go hit the head. You gonna be ok?" he asked. I nodded, intent on checking out some of the cute Mariner players as they left the field in the middle of the fifth.

"Yep," I didn't even notice when he left, but then sitting by myself, without Charlie to talk to, I felt . . . anxious. I turned around to see if he was coming back. I sat back in my seat, sliding down a bit, trying to hide. I took a long gulp of my beer.

_No, you're traveling alone. Not very prudent. You never know who you might meet . . . in a place like this._

_No, you're traveling alone._

You're . . . traveling . . . alone.

I bolted upright. He had said . . . Did he mean I was alone on the path, or alone . . . in general? In Forks?

_Deep breaths, Catherine. You cannot freak out in the middle of a baseball game, right behind the Mariners' dugout._

I put my beer back in the cupholder afraid that I would spill the thing, and clasped the armrests of my seat, trying to force myself to relax. My body rocked back and forth just slightly, and not enough for people around me to notice, as I kept my eyes on the seatback in front of me. I did NOT want to look around and see . . . Had he been following me? Stalking me? Before the woods? Was he here?

_Charlie, please come back. Charlie, please come back._ I chanted those words in my head, trying not to think anymore.

"Hey." I jumped but realized it was Charlie. My hand shot out from the armrest, reaching for his.

"Catherine? What is it?" I could hear the worry in his voice. Peripherally, I saw that he'd turned toward me, and had taken my hand into the safety of both of his.

"You . . . you walked away and . . . I remembered something. Something he said." I kept rocking, still looking at the seat in front of me.

"What? Can you tell me?" he spoke softly now.

I didn't want to say it out loud. Saying it out loud would make it . . . real. But I had to tell Charlie. "He said I was traveling . . . alone. He knew I was traveling alone. I don't know if he meant just on my walk, or . . . my trip." I felt like I'd been holding my breath, so I inhaled and let it out.

_I was ok. Charlie was here_.

I finally felt brave enough to tear my eyes away from the seat and look at him. "What if he meant my trip? What if he's been following me, stalking me . . . before the forest?" Charlie's arm went around my shoulders and I leaned into him. I wasn't crying, and thank God I wasn't shaking. I looked up to see his face, and he was staring out into left field.

We sat like that for awhile, I don't know how long exactly. I started to feel guilty, letting my stupid fears ruin our day. I could tell Charlie was running things over in his head.

"Do you wanna go?" Charlie finally asked.

"No. I don't. If we do, he wins. I hate losing," I said, watching a Brewers base hit to right. "But I would like a hot dog," as I spotted the vendor go past us. If a way to a man's heart was through his stomach, surely a hotdog would take his mind off my near panic attack.

Charlie suddenly stood up and yelled, "Yo."

In the midst of my hotdog, Charlie asked, "When was the last time the Sox won the World Series?"

"2005."

"Before that."

"1917."

"Who's their first baseman?"

"Duh. Konerko."

"Who was in left field in 2005?"

"Um, that would be yummy Scotty Pods. He came back for a spell last year."

"Yummy?"

"You have to sit in the left field bleachers to understand."

"Who threw the winning out in 2005?"

"Bobby Jenks." I turned in my seat to face him. "Tell me Chief, do you actually _know _the answers to these questions? Cuz I'm thinking even if _I _didn't know them, _you_ wouldn't either." He gave me that gut-busting laugh again and threw his arm back around me.

Five more questions later, he had _me_ leaning over holding my stomach in a giggle fit, as he imitated Ozzie Guillen at a press conference.

The game went by quickly after that, with his precious Mariners ultimately losing 4-2. Driving home, I realized he'd been able to distract me from the near panic attack that my memory almost created, and we'd ended up enjoying the rest of the game.

"You owe me 20 bucks, by the way." I said, looking out my window. He went for his wallet, but stopped with it halfway out when I said, "I_ am _interested . . . however . . . in these _persuasion_ tactics you referred to, though. You know, to see if they really _work._" I looked back at him and caught his smile.

"Oh, they'll work." He pushed his wallet back in his pocket and took back my hand.

I looked down at Charlie's hand over mine.

_You're traveling alone. _It came out of nowhere. Again.

Traveling. Not just walking. I tried to remember if I'd seen this guy before. Seattle maybe? Nothing. Home? Never. Why would he say _traveling_? I started to get angry. I didn't want to feel helpless anymore. I wanted to figure this out. I wanted to help Charlie catch this asshole. The feeling of his cold hand on my skin came back like a shock, and I flinched in my seat.

"What?" Charlie clutched my hand, noticing the movement.

"Nothing." I tried to sound casual, but I could see Charlie looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I didn't want him to know that it was pretty much his hand holding mine that was keeping me from freaking out. Again.

I thought of what I'd said to him last night and his response.

_Never let me go. Promise._

_Never. Promise. _

"To Make You Feel My Love", the Kris Allen version, started playing and diverted my attention, if only briefly.

_When the evening shadows and the stars appear  
And there is no one there to dry your tears  
I could hold you for a million years  
To make you feel my love._

I knew the words like a prayer, but now they had new meaning, especially after last night. I glanced up at Charlie, who was concentrating on traffic, and figuring out how he could speed through it.

_I know you haven't made your mind up yet  
But I would never do you wrong  
I've known it from the moment that we met  
No doubt in my mind where you belong._

Without looking at me, Charlie suddenly said, "You can go to sleep if you want. It's gonna take me awhile to get out of this mess before I can, uh, get us home. We can swing by the cabin and get your things, or at least some of them?"

"No! I mean . . . I'd rather not. Not tonight. Can we go tomorrow?" I didn't need to explain why I didn't want to go back there. I didn't want to see the place. Not today. I wanted my clothes, yes, but I didn't want to spoil our afternoon with the cabin being one of the last memories of it.

"Sure. We'll go tomorrow." He paused, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Do you think you'll be hungry when we get home? I could call the diner and have something ready for us to pick up? What do you want?"

My heart registered the fact that he'd said the word home twice. I managed to mutter, "Whatever you're having." But for the first time since I arrived in small-town Forks, Washington, I imagined not leaving. Of staying. With Charlie.

I figured I'd never fall asleep, not with the nap I took earlier, but somewhere after we'd left the traffic of the city, I did.

CharliePOV

I pulled into the driveway, and Catherine had yet to wake up. She'd even slept through the stop at the diner, Cora bringing the order out the truck. I didn't want to leave her alone, even just to run in to get the food. I'd already packed away her iPhone in her purse, and just sat in the silence watching her. The rise and fall of her chest, and the last bit of light play off her cheek. I didn't want to wake her she looked so peaceful.

I thought about what she remembered at the ballpark. Traveling alone – that's what he had said to her. Kind of an odd phrase to say to someone in the woods, but she _had _been alone walking. I needed to call Larson and tell him. It wasn't much. Not much at all. Even if he had been following her before she got to Forks, there was no way to find out. Catherine didn't seem to have noticed him before the run-in the woods.

Suddenly her eyes fluttered, and she lifted her head up to sit straight.

"How long have you, we, been sitting here?" Her gaze flew to the windshield, and then out the window next to her. "Home? We're home already? Did you stop at the diner?" I just shook my head at her rapid-fire questions.

"Don't worry. Just a few minutes. Yes, I got the food. Should we go in and eat it, or would you rather stay out here?" I chuckled.

"Hah. Very funny." She opened her door, grabbing her purse, and jumped out, but as I rounded the front corner of the truck, I noticed she'd pushed herself up against it waiting for me to come around.

We walked into the house, and I bolted the door behind me, as Catherine headed toward the bathroom. I whipped out my phone as soon as I was in the kitchen and gave Larson the update. He agreed with me that it wasn't much of anything, but at least we knew it seemed he was focused on Catherine, and the Lodge probably wouldn't have any other problems. Yeah, at least. Larson thought it might be a good idea if I had a guy watch my house, but I told him he didn't know where I lived. Hell, he probably didn't even know she was here with her car at the station. I heard Catherine open the bathroom door, and quickly told Larson I'd call him back if she remembered anything else. I'd just put the phone in my pocket when she came into the kitchen.

"I take it that was the station?" _Damn, she'd figured it out._

"Yep. Just giving them the detail you remembered." I said, concentrating on getting our food on the table. Lying wasn't worth the effort.

"It's ok, you know. I'm glad you did. You didn't need to be so James Bond about it, though. I could hear you talking in the bathroom." She sat down and started in on her burger.

I sat down across from her, picking up a fry, "I didn't . . . I thought you might not want to . . . you know . . . be reminded," and shoved it in my mouth.

She must've chewed the bite of her burger 20 times before she spoke. "I know. You're right . . . in a way." She stared at her plate, holding her burger out, as if she was replaying again. _Shit._ "I . . . I just want to help. I feel like if I could just think, maybe . . . maybe . . ."

Ok. Good. I looked at her hands, her body, her face. No shakes. So I dove in. "So, is there anything else? Anything at all?" Man, I really didn't want to go here, not now, but she seemed to be trying.

She had taken another bite of her burger, and stared at her plate until she finished chewing. "No. I think I was . . . trying so hard to get . . . get out of there that I wasn't really paying attention. Except for what he wore, and what I already told you, and . . ." she flinched.

"What?" I dropped my burger, and reached out my hand to her. I remembered the way she had done the same thing in the car.

She grabbed it. "Except for the way . . . when he touched me. His . . . his hand was cold."

_His hand was cold._ Again, not much of anything to help us find him. Anyone could have cold hands around here, especially in the woods. But something about it nagged at me. I looked at Catherine and she was eating again, so at least that meant no panic attack. A step in the right direction.

We sat and ate the rest of our burgers, she seemed ok, starting in on me about the sorry state of my Mariners, and somehow getting to what would happen to Konerko at the end of the season. I took it to mean it was the end of the asshole discussion, and I was partly glad.

I couldn't help but watch the way her hands flew when she got all worked up, especially about her favorite player possibly leaving, or the twinkle in her eye when she joked it was too bad Seattle didn't have two baseball teams. A woman who knew baseball. I suddenly had a vision of her and me and the kitchen table. I quickly stood up and cleared the papers and bag from the table to stop thinking about it, and felt her come up behind me.

"This was another perfect day, Charlie Swan. I don't know what you're going to do next, but I can't wait to find out." I turned and pulled her into my arms. I knew what I wanted to happen next, but I would follow her lead.

"How 'bout we continue this discussion on the couch? Your tunes in the background?" I suggested.

She giggled and skipped out of the kitchen. I followed closely behind, lying down on the couch while her back was to me at the stereo. I hoped it wasn't too obvious a maneuver. She suddenly set the iPhone down, and I recognized The Police, "I Burn For You".

_Hmmm._

I watched her face as she turned to look at me, her eyes going over my body lying there, waiting for her. It was her move. What was she up to? I didn't care as long as it meant I could touch her. Soon.

As she walked towards me, she suddenly commanded, "Turn over." Without an argument, I rolled over onto my stomach, and felt her leg go over me, the back cushion next to me flying somewhere. Her knees on either side of my waist, I felt her body graze my ass, just as the palms of her hands ran up my back and over my shoulders, kneading, massaging.

_Oh man. Back massage. Yesssss._

Her fingers rubbed my neck, and then moved down as I felt her thumbs press around my shoulder blades and then down my spine. She worked my lower back, and then back up again, spreading out across my upper arms. I felt her body move forward, her lips and tongue playing with the outside of my ear, as her hands worked my arms. _Fuck, that felt good._ She would put me to sleep at this rate.

"Catherine?" It came out more as a grunt, as she sat back to work my shoulders again.

"Yes." She whispered. As she did, she rose up onto her knees, giving me just enough room to try and flip back over, but as I did, she lost her balance and fell forward, catching herself with her hands behind my head on the arm of the couch. I maneuvered myself so that I was facing her again.

"Come here." It was more of an order then a request.

She braced herself with her hands on either side of my face, lowering herself slowly. Too slowly. She was going to drive me insane. That was her plan. I wanted to kiss her, maul her really, and she was hovering above me, torturing me with both her closeness and the distance her mouth was from mine.

"Yes?" Her mouth was inches from mine now, and those mesmerizing curls were wreaking havoc on my face and neck.

I couldn't wait anymore, and wrapped my arms around her, forcing her arms to give way, her body down onto mine. I took her parted lips and pushed my tongue in, wanting to taste every bit of her. She slid to the inside of the couch, but my hand at the back of her head kept her mouth to mine. I felt her fingers sneaking under my shirt, shy at first, or just so lightly exploring they drove me insane. But then, her hand moved lower, until I felt it fiddling with the button of my jeans. Charlie Jr. was at full attention now.

"Catherine, wait." I pulled my head back to see her very shocked and somewhat hurt face.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I thought . . ." Her eyes went down. Shit, I'd embarrassed her.

"No, I'm not . . . I mean . . . this couch. It's a little small." I watched as little by little a look of relief crossed her face, but as she slowly started to sit up, her one knee between my legs came dangerously close to . . .

Knowing full well I had to move or the night would end in disaster, I slid my ass backward, giving her room, extracting my one still-tangled leg. As I planted my feet on the floor, I took her hand, pulling her with me as I stood up. I grabbed her waist as soon as she was standing, and tugged her into my arms.

She was looking into my chest, "Charlie, just so you know, I haven't . . . done this in a while, and well, I'm not in my twenties anymore. . ."

I wanted to laugh. Not because I was laughing at her, but at that moment, for her to say . . . but as I watched her face, even in the relative darkness, I could see the blush on her cheeks. I couldn't let her think what she was thinking.

I couldn't ever again let her think that no one wanted her. Least of all me.

So I forced her to look at me, my finger sliding up under her chin. "Babe, if you haven't noticed, neither of us is."

Although I'd like to think I was.

"But . . . I . . . things may not be . . . quite up to par." Her cheeks turned a brighter pink as she said it. I couldn't tell if she was talking about her body or future performance. She was never more beautiful to me than at that moment. But I wanted her to be sure that she wanted this.

"Catherine. You're . . . you're absolutely perfect. And I . . . want . . . to be with you. Now. But not if you're . . . not ready." I waited as her eyes went back and forth looking into mine. I held my breath, afraid she was still deciding.

When I felt her hands start to tentatively move up my chest until her arms were around my neck, I started breathing again. Her eyes went to my lips, as her mouth reached up to me, her eyes then darting back to mine like they were asking permission.

I couldn't wait any more and went in full throttle, the force of my mouth, the demands of my tongue against hers, the way my arms clutched her to me . . . it felt _right_. _She_ felt so, so right . . .

Her fingertips at my neck started to loosen, her hands and arms slowly sliding down mine, as her body started to go limp. I held her tighter, as if the only thing holding her up were my arms around her.

This kiss . . . _the_ kiss . . . left no doubt in my mind where were going.

She pulled away, her eyes still closed and whispered, "Charlie?"

Oh shit. Don't say it. Don't you dare . . . "Yeah?" I whispered back.

Through half-lidded eyes, she barely spoke. "Take me upstairs. Now."

_Don't have to tell me twice._ I bent down, my arm going behind her knees to bring her there, fully intending to carry her up the stairs.

"I didn't mean_ carry_ me! You'll pull something before we even get to . . ." I dropped her legs like a hot potato, rather shocked, and watched as she took off of the stairs. It's not like she was even heavy, and I'm pretty strong, still . . .

"Aw, hell._"_ I mumbled, racing up after her.

I found her standing in the middle of my bedroom, looking at the floor. I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed, scared, or both. My hand reached for her cheek to turn it up, and I saw it then. Like a buck starring at the barrel of a gun pointed at it. She _was _scared. I took her face in my hands, and softly put my lips on hers to take it all away.

I pulled back, if only to see if it worked, and I felt her fingers on the bottom of my shirt, pulling it up, making me raise my arms to take it off. The act totally caught me off guard. Her lips parted as her fingers slowly slid down my chest, her eyes following, just like that first night. She moved forward, bringing her mouth to kiss just under the hollow spot of my throat, starting a trail that ran her lips, her tongue, over my chest, tasting me, licking and then sucking in a nipple . . .

_God_.

Where was this coming from? I had never seen this side of her.

But _oh . . . _I liked it.

She touched, kissed, licked everywhere, until I felt her fingers undoing my jeans, tugging the zipper down. Her fingers slid inside the waistband, and then around my ass, sending them down my legs, but somehow leaving my boxers on. Those same hands slid down the back of my thighs as she knelt in front of me and I realized she was looking at my . . . I took a deep breath. Suddenly, I was worried about . . . I had never had any complaints before . . .

_Fuck!_ I felt her fingers, and my head went back. Touching me. Fabric the only thing separating . . . Then sliding up the length of me. She pulled on the edge of my shorts, tugging downward, and I felt her fingers again, this time on my bare skin. Her exploring was pure torture. Her hand. Her wet tongue gliding up, over, to that spot, and I groaned. Lips. Over me. Taking all of me in. My hand reached for the back of her head, my fingers lost in those soft curls. I watched her, but I didn't know how long I could just stand there. If I didn't get her undressed and into the bed . . . _and she had been worried about performance_?

I felt her one hand on the back of my thighs, clutching, and I realized I was too close to . . . I took handfuls of her shirt at her shoulders and pulled her up, her face registering complete shock at being interrupted.

"Cath, I'm . . . I'm not gonna make it if you keep that up." She started to grin, as her hands went to my chest again. I took the opportunity to step out of my boxers and jeans, but reached for the bottom of her shirt, wanting nothing more than to see underneath, before she could start torturing me again. I searched her eyes, gathering folds of the material in my fingers, ready to pull up the fabric, and she raised her arms for me. In one fell swoop, I had it off, and was staring at the pink bra I had pulled out of her suitcase the night before. It was so much better on, lacy and smooth, and . . . I needed to touch her. The blush on her rosy cheeks reached down her neck to just above her breasts, where my fingers suddenly wanted to be. I felt the warmth there, slowly moving my hand down and over to cup a handful of her breast. I watched my thumb as I ran it over her already hard nipple, the feeling sending nothing short of a ripple through me and a shiver through her. My hands slid up and under the thin straps, pushing them off her shoulders, kissing, licking from the valley between the two, up her collarbone, on my way to her neck, as I reached behind her back to set them both free.

I held her and them tightly against me, crazy with need, pulling us both toward the bed. I stopped at the edge, undoing her jeans, pushing them down, leaving her little pink panties on. Backing up, I remembered last night when I tried to avoid this very image when I'd taken them out of her suitcase. My hand reached out, as my fingers ran over the smooth fabric. I stepped closer, gathering her in with my one arm, so my fingers could explore the front of her and in between, feeling just how much she wanted me. Her intake of breath as my fingers touched her wetness made me look in her eyes, and what I saw was pure need. So I took my hands and slid them around to her ass, and up to her back, lifting her as she kicked her jeans off. I kissed her neck, back down to her collarbone, to the top of her delicious breast, finally taking it in my mouth, claiming it as mine.

"Char . . . lie?" The way she said my name made me think she was asking if I was prepared, so I quickly reached over to open the drawer of the nightstand and pulled out the box, trying with lightning speed to get the thing out. Her hand went over mine.

"Are you . . . I mean . . . you don't . . . you're ok, right?"

"Yeah, no diseases here."

"Me neither. Besides, it doesn't matter. Because, I can't . . . get pregnant anyway. And I want to feel . . . all of you. Is that ok?" Her eyes were begging, pleading with me to say it was.

I sat back on the bed, looking in her eyes, then down over her body, until I was concentrating on the floor, trying to process everything she just said. She couldn't get pregnant. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, not at this moment, but . . . I didn't care. She was standing here, waiting for me to . . . I took her hand and pulled her toward me, resting my head against her stomach. I felt her fingers go through my hair, pressing my head against her. Somewhere in the pit of my stomach, I ached for her loss, but my desire for her hadn't faded. Again, I found the overwhelming urge to protect her overcome me, but this time it was to protect her heart.

I stood back up, taking her face in my hands, focusing on those beautiful blue eyes. From somewhere in the deep recesses of my soul, I found the courage.

"I love you . . .Catherine O'Hara. Every . . .inch . . .of . . . you," planting kisses on her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, as I said the words, until I reached her lips. Without pressure, without judgment, I held them there, attempting to show her the way I wanted to care for her. She didn't say anything, she didn't need to, and I didn't let her.

I left her mouth long enough to throw the covers back and sit, taking her hand and pulling her toward me and the bed, inching back, letting her slide in next me. As her head hit the pillow, I let my hand travel from the base of her neck, down between her breast, over her stomach, and back to her breast, cupping it, my thumb softly grazing her nipple. She pressed her body closer into me, a throaty moan telling me everything I needed to know. My eyes never left hers, as I felt her fingers again, slow soft touches down my stomach, searching. I kissed her then, telling her with my lips, my tongue, that it was going to be ok. I felt her hand go down again and touch me, her fingers wrapping around me, stroking, her thumb lightly moving over the top and this time I groaned. The sound of Zeppelin coming from the stereo downstairs - "Whole Lotta Love" – made me open my eyes to see a very wicked smile on her face. A _very_ wicked smile.

_Hmmm. Two could play at that game. _

I saw her expression change as I let my hand run down the soft swell of her stomach, finding the edge of her underwear and went underneath it. She took a deep breath as my fingers found the spot, circling, exploring, seeking entrance. When they found her opening, I felt her hand on me loosen, and I took her mouth again as I plunged one, then two, of my fingers into her, while my thumb kept circling. Her body pressed closer, and I knew she was already near the edge, because her head went back no longer able to concentrate on my mouth.

"Charlie, please." She whispered.

"Please, what." I wanted to hear her say it.

"I want . . . _you_ . . ." her hips rose up off the bed in response to my ever tunneling fingers, "inside me. _Please_."

_Fuck if that wasn't where I wanted to be._

I slid my fingers from her, and started to get up, taking that pink satin with me as I went, as she lifted up so I could slip them down her legs, off her feet, and across the room. Shifting on my knees between her legs, I ran my thumb around her belly button and then back down, touching again the spot and her hips again rose to meet it. She was lying in front of me, completely vulnerable, wanting me, her eyes wide and focused on that part of me she'd just demanded. I slid myself up between her legs, spending time licking the inside of each thigh, grasping the underside of each knee, making her them bend. I worked my way up, stopping momentarily to taste with my tongue what my fingers had already experienced, licking and sucking until her hips moved at my rhythm.

"Shhh-it, Charlie. Please . . ." She gasped.

I nipped and licked over her middle, between her breasts and around, taking one in my mouth again, teasing her nipple with my tongue. I finally brought my face inches from hers, and watched as I slowly found my mark, guiding myself into her. Her breathing stopped, her eyes closed, as her head went back.

_This is heaven. She is heaven._

I felt one leg and then the other clamp together around me as I slowly pushed in and pulled out, teasing her more. Her one hand flew up against the headboard, her other hand on the outside of my shoulder, her fingernails digging in to my skin. I let myself go further and further inside her, taking her with me, driving her to the edge.

I thought about that night on the couch and how this had been what I wanted. I chanced a look at her, and her eyes were still closed, her neck back.

_Jesus._

"Catherine, open your eyes. Look at me," I panted. She did. Passion, beauty, intensity, I couldn't think of the words to describe. All I knew was that I wanted to see that look on her face again and again. Tonight if possible.

"Scar . . . lett," she whispered.

"W-what?"

"My m-middle name." She smiled, and I dropped my head with a short chuckle, almost losing my rhythm.

As long as we were sharing, "Thomas," I panted, looking back up at her. Now it was her turn to smile.

Her smile slowly faded as the look on her face changed, and she inched closer to . . . "Faster, Charlie," she begged, and I immediately obeyed. Propping myself up, I felt her hand go between us, touching herself, and I nearly lost it. I took her mouth, hiding the moans and gasps that were coming from both of us. I licked, kissed, and sucked every inch I could reach.

"Oh . . . Charlie . . ." Her eyes squeezed shut, and I knew she was close. I sped up my tempo, until I was driving all the way in, clutching her hip with my one hand bringing her even closer to me. The fingers she had been touching herself with suddenly gripped my arm, as her insides began to tighten around me.

_Fuck!_ With one final deep thrust, her hips rose up, her muscles clenched, until I felt the rolling waves go through her and around me.

"Charrr…G-god!"

Half of my name and the Almighty reference sent me following right after her, every cell in my body exploding, until I shook, the intensity obliterating anything from my mind but her name.

"Cath..." The rest lost in a gasp and moan as I spilled into her, my body shaking , until I collapsed onto her, my head on her chest. Her one arm reached around me, and I felt her fingers gliding over my back. Neither of us spoke, moved, as I felt the aftershocks within her. I wanted to stay connected to her like that forever.

I waited just a few more minutes, listening to her racing heartbeat, catching my breath.

_Fuck, she was so . . . I was so . . ._

_In love. _

And not because what we had just done . . . not because of the sex. I just couldn't imagine ever again being without her, and the realization made me shiver again. I knew she felt it because her hand started to rub my back again.

I didn't want to crush her, so I rolled onto my back pulling her with me. Her head was on my chest, just like this morning. My hand in her hair, just like this morning. But _not _like this morning, I was still inside her.

"Charlie?" she whispered.

"Hmmm?" I didn't move.

"That was . . ."

"Mmmhmm." I smiled and reached down to pull the hair off her cheek, if only to see the part of her face that wasn't pressed against me. Her eyes were closed, but I could see half of a grin.

"Charlie?"

"Hmmm?" My smiled stayed, loving the way my name sounded when she said it. Now. After.

"How long . . . er . . . before you can do that again?"

_Right this minute if my body would cooperate._ "Uh, can I have a minute or two?" I chuckled.

"Sure. Take as long as you need." Her eyes were closed, but the corners of her mouth went up further turning into a full-fledged smile.

"Can I make a request?"

"Anything." I said it and meant it.

"Um, next time? . . . Next time . . . I'm on top." With that, I felt Charlie Jr. twitch. Well, maybe we weren't talking minutes . . . Seconds anyone?

CathPOV

Charlie's soft snores in the valley between my breasts woke me, but I didn't want to open my eyes. I just wanted to _feel_. Feel the skin and hair on his leg lying across mine. Feel his one arm draped across my midsection. Feel his other hand still clasped in mine, where it had been since we'd both fallen asleep. Feel the dull ache between my legs. I smiled. A good ache. A _very_ good ache.

Charlie had been quite . . . responsive, agile, for . . . I stifled a chuckle. After the first time, I wasn't sure if he had it in him to go at it again. He had seemed very content lying there, with me on top of him. Not to say that I wasn't. But I had stolen over 3 hours of sleep that afternoon in the car, and, well, I wasn't finished with him.

After an interminable amount of time for me, I finally took matters into my own hands, literally, coaxing Charlie to life until I slid over him, guiding him into me. I smiled again realizing that all the walking/running I'd been doing wasn't enough to stop the burning in my thighs, as I brought myself up, down, and around him inside me. He hadn't lasted long that way, and neither had I, lifting himself upright to claim my mouth in those final moments, his fingers finding the exact spot to send us into oblivion together. I would have thighs of steel if we continued like this.

Then I remembered.

_I love you, Catherine O'Hara. Every inch of you._

Charlie had said he loved me. Even _after_ I'd confessed my last secret. He seemed ok with it, although for a few minutes I'd bit back the urge to run from him, from the room. Maybe it was because he already had a daughter and a granddaughter. Maybe he didn't want anymore kids, and was just reacting to the moment I'd picked to tell him.

_How in the whole wide world did I get so lucky as to have this man find me?_ He wanted me. He loved me. The way he had said it, his tender kisses punctuating every word, had been like returning to life after a long catatonic state, the world, his world, full of light, color, and happiness.

And I loved _him_. I knew it now, more than ever. More than I ever thought possible, and I felt a tingling in my gut as awareness swept over me. I took a deep breath and let it out, sending all of the old fears with it. I needed to tell him, too. Soon. To think, a week ago I drove here to figure things out, find myself. But I'd found something infinitely better, that just happened to be asleep on me.

My fingers on my free hand lightly brushed the top of his hair, running through it softly. On cue, Charlie's head moved, turning to kiss the top of my breast, as the arm that was draped over me moved back and he ran his hand over my hip.

"Hi," he said lazily, planting kisses along my collarbone. The hand that was still holding mine suddenly let go, and he rolled on his side, the hand on my hip pulling me with him. I snuggled my head under his chin, draping my leg over the one of his that had found its way up between my thighs. I could tell he had his head propped up on his hand above my head, but I was too preoccupied with running my hand through the hair on his chest, finding it beyond sexy.

"We're never gonna leave this room. Ever." He vowed out loud.

"Yessir." I said with total conviction. Just then, his stomach had other ideas and we both felt and heard it growl in protest. My giggles turned into a laughing fit, which in turn made Charlie laugh. But the vibrations of his leg rubbing between mine, against me, stirred sensations to life. I had to lie back, closing my eyes, letting the urges he created die down. Oh, I wanted him again, but I didn't want to kill him.

I felt his fingers wandering down my stomach, and my eyes flew open. His face was inches from mine.

"Don't be startin' something you can't finish, old man." I gave him my best shit-grin.

"Oh really? Old man, huh?" His fingers found their target, as I took a deep breath. My eyes closed, my center traitorously pushing up and closer to his hand, and it was at this point I realized my damn body was clearly ignoring my head. And he knew it.

"Charlie, please." I grabbed his bicep, pulling at the arm attached to the fingers torturing me. Suddenly his lips found mine, first sucking in the top one, then taking the bottom one in his teeth, tugging it slightly and then letting go.

"If you're intent on making this happen, then run that delectable mustache of yours all over me." _Did I really just say that? _ Yep, because all of a sudden I felt it traveling down my chin, down my neck, down between and around my breasts, all the way to my belly button and back again.

_Oh. My. God._ I was going to break before he was even . . .

"Open your eyes." I did and his face was suddenly back in front of mine, and I was gasping as if I'd run 6 miles. I moaned as I felt him moving on top of me, my mind shouting thank you, thank you, thank you.

DamianPOV

Betrayal. Her initiation of . . . I watched in horror as Charlie Swan defiled her. The charlatan! The harlot! The rage engulfed me like an uncontrollable fire, my cloak evaporating as I clenched the tree branch I perched on, the end in front of me crumbling in my grip, falling to the ground, leaving only a short stub where my feet remained.

I would study her no more. I would fulfill my destiny today. But not here. Not the abode of the usurper. My hand removed her mementos from my pocket and dropped them to the forest floor. The desire for keepsakes of the whore before my eyes eviscerated.

I jumped from my perch to make the way back once more to her quarters, wanting no more of the wanton display my eyes had just beheld. Once I was finished with her, I would set her ablaze, and Charlie Swan would be forced to view, left only with her ashes. Yes, Charlie Swan would _appreciate_ every glorious minute of her surrender. It would take every ounce of control to leave Charlie Swan alive, but compelling him to witness _my _ultimate conquest would be quite enough to satisfy. _Yes._

Oh, but _she_ would pay. Pay for her infidelity.

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A/N:

*Smiles* So? Some of you happy? Satisfied? Not? As you might have suspected, this was my first lemon.

Any and all comments are truly welcome.

Thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

Another long one. So let's get to it, shall we?

**Warning: The following chapter contains sensitive subject matter, including a description of rape. **

For reasons obvious to most, I must again say, I own nothing Twilight, although _owning_ RPatz is high on my list of things to do before I die.

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**Chapter 15**

Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 2 in E minor Op. 27: Largo-Allegro moderato

**BellaPOV**

It was mid-morning. Jacob had taken Renesmee to hunt, but she had gone with him reluctantly. It wasn't just Edward and me that she was mad at, but apparently Jake as well. He'd walked in the door rather hesitantly, no very hesitantly, compared to his usual self, anticipating something to be wrong, only because his conversation with Edward the previous night. But something told me he wasn't prepared for Renesmee's reaction to him. When he reached for her hand as they were walking out the door, she pulled it away. I had suggested that Edward and I go with, but I could tell by the look on Renesmee's face she didn't want us around either. After our discussion last night, I understood, but it didn't make me feel better. Edward knew why. I was sure he was seeing something and I desperately wanted to ask him what she was thinking. But I thought twice about it. It felt like we were reading her diary or something. And I could help it. Edward couldn't. So Edward just told her we'd meet them both up at the house in an hour.

"No!" Edward shot up from his chair near the fireplace. I'd been nearly finished with my book, when I threw it to the side.

"Edward, what is . . ." but before I could finish, Alice came rushing through the front door.

"Bella! It's changed!" I glanced back at Edward, but was off the couch and in front of Alice before she could say anything further. Edward's hand taking mine at my side told me he had already seen everything.

"Alice?" I gripped his hand as I threw my shield over them both to see what terrified Alice so much.

Charlie and Catherine were inside a room, a hotel room with rustic wood furniture, but with a small kitchen, too. They were standing in front of the bed, his one arm shielding her as she stood behind him. His other at his right side, the side where he kept his gun, his jacket just covering it. He seemed to be talking to . . . it was that peculiar ripple from the first vision, the ripple that was the creature. A sudden forward movement of its waves sent Charlie's right hand reaching for his gun, but it was already gone. He pushed Catherine backwards with his body, holding one hand up, as if pleading for the creature to calm down. But another ripple came forward towards Charlie at speed only we could have seen, knocking Charlie to the floor. His gun flying through the air until it hit the wall and dropped to the floor. It happened so fast there was no time for either of them to register what happened until Catherine eyes saw Charlie laying on the floor.

Catherine's glance went from Charlie's still body, to the gun that lay just feet from her. But I couldn't tell if she was reaching for it or for Charlie, when another ripple flash exploded across her cheek sending her flying backwards onto the bed, completely still. The creature seemed to hesitate, as if waiting for one of them to stir, but because I couldn't se a face, I couldn't tell if he was looking at Catherine or my father. When Charlie seemed to come to, moving his head, a sudden wave bent Charlie's stomach inward, his back careening into the wooden leg of the bed. He coughed and sputtered, as his body was suddenly airborne across the room, and then handcuffed to the wooden armrest of the couch, arms stretched behind him, kneeling on the floor. Something told me the creature had used Charlie's own handcuffs.

The coffee table that had been just in front of Charlie's head went crashing toward the kitchen, slicing into the island, and splintering any wood into kindling. This brought Charlie's head up, his eyes wincing either from the crash or the pain. He tried to speak, demanding the creature let Catherine go. But as he said it, the waves dissipated and the creature knelt down in front of him in full view of us now. Whatever the creature said, Charlie's expression changed from one of anger to incredulity, his arms instinctively struggling with the cuffs. He mouthed the words, "Keep your hands off her!" But the creature crouched down, his hand slowly going down Charlie's right arm, suddenly breaking it in half just below the elbow. Charlie's cry of pain stifled as the creature backhanded the side of his cheek, leaving a gash that began to bleed.

I reached out to grab Alice's hand, as Edward threw his arm around her shoulders. How could the creature resist the human blood dripping from Charlie's face? . . .

Charlie leaned back sliding his feet out from under him, propping himself up against the couch, attempting to take the pressure off his broken arm. His breaths were short and ragged, but he was still conscious. I couldn't believe he still was, and saw Edward think the same thing.

Catherine suddenly moaned, bringing her knees up to her chest into a ball, and the creature head twisted back toward her, smiling. I read his lips as he said, "Now she's mine." He turned back to Charlie, said something in his ear, and grabbed him by the . . . , twisting.

_Oh my God!_ I broke the shield, and stepped away, turning my back to them both.

"I can't . . . I can't watch this. Not again." My cold heart felt like it was shattering into pieces.

"Bella. I know. But you need to, because . . ." Alice pleaded. I turned around to look at Edward, his hand outstretched. I didn't want to see Catherine . . . I didn't want to see . . . Charlie die . . . again.

"Hold onto me, Bella." Edward begged.

I glanced at Alice, then at Edward. I slowly walked back to take Edward's hand and Alice's, throwing my shield over them once more.

Charlie head lay slumped on the seat cushion of the couch, the blood from his cheek running slowly down his face, onto his neck, but his eyes were open and focused on Catherine.

The creature slowly stepped towards her, rubbing his hands together, saying, "Observing, are you? Charlie Swan?"

Almost imperceptibly, my father's lips moved, the words "I'll kill you" only recognizable to us.

Catherine tried to sit up, pushing herself backward with flailing legs, shaking her head, as her back hit the headboard and she realized she was trapped. She mouthed the word, "Please" begging for the creature to stop. But he took it as some sort of invitation, and flew to kneel on the bed in front of her, pulling her legs out to either side of him. As he did so, his hood fell from of his head.

I studied his features, his blond cropped hair, his pale skin, his light amber eyes. Light eyes? Like ours. I felt rather than heard the gasp from both Edward and Alice. He must be feeding in and around Forks, but how? How could we not pick up his scent? The three of us had that same thought at precisely the same moment.

The creature's hand went to the v of her shirt, the same shirt that was in the first vision, and in one fell swoop he had again ripped straight down through her clothes, this time throwing the shredded fabric from her, leaving her naked and exposed in front of him. Catherine arms went to cover herself as she tried to scream, but the creature's hand flew to cover her mouth and nose, cutting off her oxygen. He said something to her, loosening his grip. But whatever it was, she didn't comprehend at first, shocked from the force and speed that he had just removed her clothes. He pushed back on her mouth forcefully, presumably repeating himself, and her slight nod made him lift his hand away. I read her lips. "As long . . . as you don't . . . kill him, as long as . . ."

I saw Charlie's head shoot up, saying "Catherine, no!" but Catherine either didn't hear him, or simply couldn't take her eyes from the creature hovering over her. He smiled down at her, running his hand down her cheek. He must have told her to remove her arms, because she slowly brought them to her sides. His hand glided over her neck, down to her breast, as her entire body convulsed from his touch. Through clenched teeth, she let go a scream as he twisted her breast violently, just like in the first vision. But her pain only fueled him, as he took her hands, forcing them above her head with one of his, stifling another cry with his mouth, forcing her head back into the mattress as if he would go through her skull. His other hand raked over her naked body, digging fingers into her skin, her breasts, trailing his hand down between her legs, touching her, shoving his fingers . . .

"Edward!" I threw my head into his chest, but held my shield.

Catherine's tears ran down the sides of her face, as the creature spoke to her, taunting her, his fingers emphasizing whatever he was saying with forceful thrusts. She was surrendering, because the creature had made a bargain with her. Her submission for Charlie's life. She had no idea that he wouldn't keep the bargain.

"Alice, please tell me it's almost over. Please show me they're going to be ok." I pleaded out loud.

His mouth left her lips and followed the path that his hand had just taken, stopping between her legs. She started to shake with terror, but the creature mistakenly assumed it was his mouth causing her body to react, as he looked up to smile at her. I knew from that moment on, I would never forget that face. It came up to meet hers again, forcing his kiss onto her mouth, her weak whimpers of pain uncontrollable now. As his mouth left hers, he thrust himself inside her, the pain making her cry out. Over and over he pummeled her, nearly to unconsciousness. Again, I could feel her pain inside of me, to the point where I bent over and only Edward's arms stopped me from falling to my knees. Again, I wanted to cry for her, I wanted to turn away, I couldn't watch anymore.

When suddenly the creature threw his head back and released his venom into her, his violent shuddering causing Catherine to shriek.

I glanced to my Dad, and saw a tear running down his cheek, as his head shook back and forth and his mouth formed the words "No, please. Kill me. Let her go."

Catherine struggled for breath, as her head turned to the side, her still open eyes searching for the voice she'd just heard. Searching for Charlie. She mouthed his name, but upon hearing it, the creature's slow torture of her turned into rabid anger. He grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her gaze from Charlie, nearly snapping her neck. His smile grew wide, exposing all of his razor-sharp teeth. His hesitation was long enough for Catherine's comprehension to register on her face, her scream cut off by the creature lunging at her neck. A short gasp escaped her, as the creature's venom pierced her skin. Her eyes rolled back into her head, as he began to slowly drink. I could feel Edward's amazement at the creature's utter control.

After a few swallows, he suddenly stopped and sat back on his heels, blood running down the sides of his face, dripping down the front of him, and onto Catherine's skin. Her back arched and she started to squirm as the venom began scorching through her. He glanced down at the droplets he'd just spilled, and licked each of them, smearing blood even as he tried to lap up what had fallen. But instead of going back to her neck, he started biting all over her, just like in the first vision. The swell of her breast, the concave her stomach, the inside of her thigh, holding her leg up as he drank.

He glanced back to Charlie, his menacing smile dripping with Catherine's blood, as Charlie's eyes grew wide and then closed as he lost consciousness, his head dropping back onto the couch.

It was at this moment, I realized that the creature had wanted Charlie to watch. To watch his slow torture and murder of Catherine. Before he killed Charlie.

Suddenly, the vision shifted. It was a familiar room – marble pillars, stone floors, a drain in the center, and windows too high to see out. Volterra. I was standing off to the side. And Charlie and Catherine were on the raised dais, the platform where Aro, Marcus, and Caius had stood the last time I'd been there.

And the vision went black.

**CathPOV**

A sliver of light filtered through the drawn window blinds and annoyed my closed eyes. I felt my cheek pressed against soft hair and warm skin.

_Mmmm. Charlie._

I opened my eyes, and my head was definitely on top of Charlie's chest, his one hand on my shoulder blade. I had no clue where his other one was. I realized that I was laying nearly sideways, toes of my one foot dangling off the edge of the bed. My one hand was curled up underneath my shoulder. The problem was my other one. The other one was trying desperately to remain still, my fingertips resting along his _oh so_ appropriately named _treasure trail_.

_Hmmm. Treasure indeed. _

I felt a blush as I looked at it now, in the light, not nearly the size it had been but still . . . impressive. I had to suppress a giggle. I didn't want to move an eyelash, afraid I would wake him, so I closed my eyes again stifling the urge to tease him. He needed . . . sleep. I half-grinned, remembering. Charlie had been . . . quite . . . impressive, and rather, um, noble, in making sure I was . . . satisfied. I let out a sigh, as the soreness between my legs reminded me of just how satisfied I was. I so wanted to throw my arms up and stretch every muscle in my body, mostly because every one of them ached. But I stayed still, listening to Charlie's deep, slow breaths, hearing his heart beating below my ear.

Charlie's heart. The one that he said belonged to me.

My stomach gurgled, but not a flinch from Charlie and I knew he was still asleep. Phew. But I was hungry. I _needed_ coffee. Bad. God, what time was it? I didn't want to move my head to see, content to stay like this, with Charlie, for all eternity.

Damn morning. Damn time. Damn the world.

An unexpected chill pierced my reverie and I shivered, realizing I was completely bare except for my feet, which were the only things under the covers. Charlie felt my tremor, and pulled me closer with the arm on my back, but it wasn't enough. I lifted my head slowly off him, reaching with my hand that had been on his stomach for something to cover me. I latched onto the edge of the comforter, but unfortunately lifted my head up far enough for him to notice.

"Where're you going?" he said without opening his eyes.

"Um, I'm c-cold," I said as I started to shiver. I pulled the comforter up and over us both, bringing myself to his side, wrapping one of my cold legs around his.

"Damn, woman, you _are_ cold." He flinched as my icy skin touched his.

"S-sorry." I shuddered against his torso. "G-go back to sleep. I'll b-be warm in a minute. I d-didn't want to wake you, I swear." I looked up to see his eyes still closed but that mischievous grin on his face. My favorite shit-grin.

"Had enough?" He said lazily.

"Hah. Have y-you?" I snuggled closer to him.

"Never." He admitted and chuckled.

"Come here," he whispered, and rolled on his side, bringing what was his missing arm over me to rub my back, and his leg over mine, my head resting on his bicep. "Better?" he asked, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Mmm. Much." I mumbled.

After a few minutes, my shivering stopped, and my stomach again made its presence known. "How 'bout you stay here and sleep some more, and I go make us breakfast?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I really didn't want to get up. But we would both starve if I didn't.

"Could you make it from here? Breakfast, I mean?" I looked up and his eyes were still closed, although I knew he was on the verge of opening them. I giggled.

"If I could, I would. Trust me." I lightly brushed his lips with mine and started to slip out of his warmth, when he pulled me back in.

His eyes opened, his lips parted as he hesitated two seconds, looking at my mouth, my cheeks, and finally in my eyes. "Geez louise, I am in love with you, woman."

I stopped, studying every inch, every line of his face. Memorizing it.

"Not more than I'm in love with you, Chief." I smiled and he returned it, once again closing his eyes. I'd never meant those words more.

I slid out from under the covers, going over to the dresser where he'd grabbed the t-shirt and sweats from me the night before to sleep in. I rummaged through and found another shirt and sweats, and realized I had no more clean underwear. We were getting a little late in the game to be thinking about the girls going free all day, so I grabbed my pink bra off the floor. But commando it would have to be.

I showered, finding Charlie's razor, and hoped he didn't mind. I'd used it yesterday, and he hadn't said anything. Men so hated when you used their razors, but this was an emergency. I wrapped my wet hair in a towel, brushed the teeth, and put on my sexy outfit for the day. Upon seeing myself in the mirror, a vision flashed of me just making breakfast in my bra. _Yeah, right._ Charlie's shirt was about 2 sizes to big, as were the sweats, so I rolled down the waistband, and rolled up bottoms, looking like a complete idiot, but at least I wouldn't trip going down the stairs.

I found everything I needed in Charlie's fridge, which was a feat unto itself, considering the man had nothing in it. I sniffed a package of bacon before deciding it was ok, and discovered a half a loaf of bread, enough for toast, and the remaining eggs left in the carton from the yesterday morning. I knew I was starving, Charlie had to be.

With the bacon frying, my coffee cup in my hand, I looked out at the light drizzle falling. The weather here was going to take some getting used to. Back home, it was probably nearing ninety degrees. _Back home._ I needed to call my mom just to check in. They hadn't heard from me in a week. I had warned them that I wanted some peace on this trip, that I had a lot of thinking to do, and they might not hear from me right away. Mom was probably frantic. But I didn't want to call. Not now, anyway. It was almost as if calling the old world would make this new one disappear like it was all a dream.

As I flipped the bacon slices, I realized a bigger predicament. How could I stay here with Charlie, when everything I had, everything I loved, was back in Chicago? I couldn't ask him to chuck it all and come back with me. He needed to stay here, his job was here, his family. But my job . . . I thought about it for the first time in a week. Could I just quit? Could I just ditch the career that I'd worked so hard for? For the first time in quite a while the thought was tempting. Friends, family, career. Or Charlie. Would it come to that? Would I have to choose? Not that he'd even asked, even hinted, about any sort of future, but . . . what was that line he'd said to me?

"When you know, you know." _Yes you did._

The bacon was nearly done, so I tossed the cooked slices onto a plate with paper towels, and then started on the eggs. I heard rumblings upstairs, as Charlie went into the bathroom and started the shower. Maybe I should bring it up today – ask where he saw this going. Was I that brave? I hadn't been in the past, and I wasn't sure if I could be now.

I shoved the idea out of my mind for the time being. I didn't even know what we were doing today. But I knew one thing. We needed to go to the grocery store, so I could get some real food in this house. God only knew what he had planned for today, if anything, but I knew I needed to go back to the cabin and get my stuff. I felt better about going there now. Better then I did yesterday, especially since Charlie would be with me. And I was damn sure I wasn't wandering about Forks in what I was wearing at the moment. I needed to go back to the Lodge and checkout, because something told me I wouldn't be staying there for the remainder of my trip anyway. Maybe we could stay there for awhile this afternoon, and take a walk on the beach, an early dinner at the lodge restaurant, and then back to the grocery store.

I was lost in planning the afternoon in my head, when a noise from the living room made me turn from the eggs I was scrambling.

"Charlie?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." He sounded preoccupied, so I turned the stove down, and walked to the doorway to peek at what he was doing. He had my iPhone, which had mysteriously stopped playing sometime during the night. I went to my purse and pulled out the charger cord and walked to him.

"You might need this." I held up the cord to him.

"Uh, yeah. I wondered why the screen was black." He handed it to me and I plugged it into the outlet and the phone.

"Give it a few minutes and it will come on." I walked back into the kitchen to finish the eggs. As I was getting everything onto the table, I heard music again coming from the living room. "Don't Wait to Long" by Madeleine Peyroux.

"Hey Cath, come here, would ya?" he called from still in the living room. What was he up to? I put the skillet with the eggs back on the stove and covered it so they wouldn't get cold, and walked out to him.

"Dance with me?" His hand was outstretched, beckoning me over. I had to laugh, seeing Mr. Tough Policeman wanting to dance.

"You know how?" I teased, and took his hand. He spun me into his body, my back to his stomach, wrapping both our arms around my middle, swaying back and forth. He wasn't Fred Astaire, but he spun me out and back a few times, finally pulling me close, my hand in his at his chest, cheek to cheek. We stayed like that until the end of the song, when he reached under my chin to pull my face to his, my arms instinctively going around his waist and his over mine. We looked at each other for a long time, his hands at the small of my back folding me closer to him. He bent his head in and ran his lips across mine, his mustache tickling me. Then both of our mouths opened, the tips of our tongues meeting first, and then Charlie deepening the kiss as his one hand went up my back to the base of my neck to pull the towel from my head. His fingers wandered through my wet hair, while his other hand grazed my ass. The kiss was long, gentle, and perfect.

I finally needed to break the spell. "Um, breakfast is getting cold." I pushed my neck back, to see his eyes still closed, as if he was replaying something in his mind.

"You don't have any underwear on, do you?" he asked, eyes still closed, his hand rubbing against one ass-cheek and then across to the other.

"Seems to me you already know the answer to that one, Chief." I broke free, snatching up my towel from the floor and wrapping it around my neck. Flicking my hair out from underneath it, I chanced a look back, and Charlie was still standing where I'd left him, his eyes closed. At least now I knew what was going through his mind. I couldn't help but giggle my way back into the kitchen.

When he finally joined me in the kitchen, I was just bringing our eggs to the table, and put some on his plate. I went back to get the toast, and could sense that his mood had changed considerably from the living room. So, I just sat down across from him, stealing quick peeks at him.

We ate in relative silence, mostly because I didn't want to ask what was bothering him. I picked up my last piece of bacon, and happened to glance up at him. He was sitting back, fiddling with his coffee cup, staring at it. Through it. Judging by his expression, it was serious. I shoved the bacon in my mouth, and grabbed my coffee resting back in my chair.

"What you said to me last night. Before we . . ." he hesitated, still intent on the damn coffee cup. So _that's_ what it was. My eyes fell to my own which I held in my lap.

"Are you sure? I mean . . ." I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and knew he was looking at me.

I inhaled and let out a long sigh. "Yep, pretty sure." He waited as I worked up my courage. So I tried to briefly explain to him in simple terms the intricacies of my issues, of why doctors thought it would be impossible to have a baby. As I did so, I got up to get the coffee pot, topping off both of our cups, and sat back down, putting the pot on the table.

"But you're ok, right? Otherwise?" I looked up to see him leaning on the table, arms folded in front of him.

"Yes, for the most part. There will issues farther down the line, but I'm not worried." I watched as his one hand came across the table, and I put mine in it, amazed at how the simple gesture relaxed me. I set my coffee down, and brought my other hand to turn his palm up, running my fingers over the inside of his hand. I flipped it over again, and did the same thing to the back of his, admiring how long his fingers were compared to mine.

"Charlie, I'm ok with it, really. But if you're not . . ."

"No, no, that's not it. I just . . . I'm sorry, that's all. I wouldn't have minded . . . but I don't care as long as . . . you . . . as long as you're with me." His other hand flew over to take both of mine in his.

"_You_ wouldn't have minded?" I laughed. "Even if I could, I don't know if I'd want to _now_, being so old." He pulled at my arms, gently tugging me out of my seat and over to his lap, grinning.

"Old? You're not _old_." He teased, wrapping his arms around me. "And neither am I, dammit. Although I admit, it would have been fun to have another . . ."

"Yeah, fun for _you_ maybe," and I rubbed both of his arms with my hands. I imagined Charlie holding a baby boy with a head full of brown hair, and big brown eyes, both on the couch watching baseball. I quickly shook the image from my mind. I leaned my head back on his shoulder, and as if sensing my sadness, I felt his prickly mustache and then his soft lips kiss my neck, and then move their way up to that spot by my ear. My head moved toward his, my body tingling as his tongue lightly touched the sensitive skin.

I reluctantly pulled my head way from him and turned my body to look into his eyes. I felt my tears welling up, so I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him to me.

"Are you sure?" I whispered in his ear. "Because if . . ."

"_You_ are all I need," he whispered back. "Besides . . . we could always adopt."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek, as I brought my eyes back to his to hold his face in my hands. I searched his face, his eyes for any sign of doubt, any indecision, and my breath caught as I realized all I saw was sincerity and . . . truth.

"I love you, Charles Thomas Swan. I can't imagine ever loving you more than I do at this moment." I softly pressed my lips to his, and then pulled back to look at him again. His thumb came up to wipe the tear that had escaped.

"Right back at ya, babe." He smiled at me, but then his face turned serious again.

"Never let me go, right?"

"Never." I whispered, dropping my forehead to his.

**BellaPOV**

I'd never run so fast, vampire or not. I flew through the patio doors, Edward and Alice following right behind me.

"Carlisle. Esme. Jasper." Edward called in what would be taken by any other as a normal tone of voice.

"What is it, Edward?" Carlisle was in front of us in less than a second, Esme calling Rose on her cell phone.

"Another vision." Jasper had met Alice as she came through the door, sensing already what had happened.

Edward started to explain the new vision, when Emmett and Rosalie came bursting in the front door. I went to the dining room and sat down in one of the chairs. Physically, I didn't need to. Mentally, I was exhausted. Alice sat next to me, Rose on the other side in the head chair. Edward went to the other end of the table, Carlisle next to him, then Esme and Jasper, Emmett standing behind Rose. Edward started to tell of the vision once again.

"Bella, could you?" Edward wanted me to shield everyone, so Alice could just replay it. I just nodded my head and enveloped everyone around the table. I didn't want to see it again, but it was . . . no it wouldn't be easy. To witness Charlie's and Catherine's torture.

"Is that a hotel room?" Emmett said out loud. "That could be anywhere."

"Shhh," Rosalie reprimanded.

I listened as gasps escaped from Carlisle and Esme. I watched as Jasper flinched and Emmett's arms encircled Rosalie when the creature raped Catherine. I felt Alice's arms come around me, as Jasper desperately tried to soothe everyone in the room.

But then they all saw. Esme's inhale was the loudest, reaching out for Carlisle's arm.

"What the fuh . . . ?" Emmett nearly missed censoring himself.

Jasper struggled within himself to calm everyone as I took back my shield. I didn't want to see everyone's thoughts. I'd seen enough.

"So they'll become . . . like us?" Rosalie was first to ask.

"I think so." Alice squeezed my shoulders again. "Bella, you know we won't let that happen."

Edward looked at Carlisle. "The implications of the last part are . . . disturbing."

Carlisle took Esme's hand in his, gently rubbing it with his other one. "Yes, yes they are. But the conclusion you're all jumping to doesn't make it necessarily so. From the vantage point of the vision, the one that we all saw, I can't tell if they are one of us or. . ." Carlisle glanced at me. "About to become a meal."

"But wouldn't they be in the center? And where would Aro, Caius, Marcus, and the guards be?' Edward asked.

Carlisle dropped his head. "I don't know."

"But in order for Catherine and Charlie to be there, to go there . . ." Jasper looked at me.

"They would most likely send someone here to get them. Or come themselves. Again." Edward finished.

I looked around the table, at all of their faces, as everyone seemed to quiet together, stewing over everything Alice had seen, and the implications, when suddenly it occurred to me.

Both Catherine and Charlie in Volterra meant that whatever happened . . .

"Omigosh!" I said out loud, realizing where my thoughts had gone.

"Bella, what is it?" Alice grabbed my arm.

"Well, we're all overlooking one thing. Whatever they are, however they are in Volterra, one thing's for certain. They both _survive_ the . . . _him_ . . ." I said, glancing down at Edward. He nodded almost imperceptibly at me.

All along, through two visions, I'd been assuming Charlie and Catherine were murdered. But if Alice's vision ended with them in Volterra, I had the smallest speck of hope that at least they survived the monster's attack in some form.

"She's right." Carlisle's voice was barely a whisper, but the surety of his voice, and the fact that he said the words out loud, changed the emotion of the room. I wasn't sure if Jasper had anything to do with it, but everyone seemed more hopeful than five minutes ago, including me.

"I need to call Charlie's." I nearly jumped over the table, but quickly thought otherwise and ran into the kitchen before anyone commented. The phone at Charlie's rang and rang until the machine picked up. I hung up the phone. I dialed his cell, it went straight into voicemail.

"Dad, if you get this, wherever you are, call me. Or just come back home immediately and meet me at your house. I'll explain then." I hung up.

I dialed the station.

"Tracy? It's me, Bella. Is my Dad around?"

"No Bella, he took the rest of the week off."

"Ok, thanks." Where could they be?

I went back into the dining room. Their utter silence telling me they'd stopped to listen to the phone. "We have to go to Charlie's house." I stated. It was nearly an order.

"Yes. We have to see if we can find anything. We can pick up their scent and track them." Jasper offered. "Alice, was there something that might indicate it would be today?" Everyone tried to remember anything, anything at all, that could tell us.

"Wait." Alice's faraway look. Oh God.

"They're walking on a beach, in the middle of the day, but I can't . . . It's empty. Although the weather . . . I think there might be a storm coming in. But there's nothing I can see to tell me what beach it is."

"That could be anywhere along the coast. There's a chance for storms all along it today." Jasper looked at Edward who simply nodded.

"Bella, I'll go to the cottage and keep Renesmee there with Jacob. I'll do everything I can to keep them from leaving." Esme was out the door before I could thank her.

"Rose and I will take Bella's car and meet you at Charlie's. No telling where we're going to need to go, and I think we can all cram in there if need be."

"There's a spare set of keys in the top drawer of my workbench in the garage." Edward flashed me a look. I didn't give a fig about the car or who was driving it now.

"Ok. We'll meet you there," and I took off out the patio doors, Edward catching my hand to run with me. Jasper, Alice, and Carlisle right behind.

**CharliePOV**

I pulled into the lane that led back to the cabins, squeezing Catherine's hand in mine to make her look at me. She seemed ok, but I knew better. The ride over had been quiet, almost too quiet. She didn't even plug in her iPhone, so I just turned on the radio to my station. I kept looking over at her, to make sure she was ok, but she just stared out her window. She had suggested we come out here for the afternoon, get her things, get her checked out, and take a walk on the beach – something she had yet to do. I could sense that she wanted to spend as little time in the cabin, and that was fine with me. The sooner we were away from here, back at my house, both of us naked in my bed, the better.

I parked the car. She didn't move, so I waited. "Charlie, do you think he's here . . . watching?" Her face flew from the window, and her eyes told me all I needed to know. I knew I had to come up with something, something good, to help her relax.

"No. I don't. It's the middle of the day. He won't be around here." I didn't add the part where I thought he would wait until it was dark. "That is, if we didn't scare him off already. There's been too much going on here, too many of us around. And you haven't been here either. He probably has _no idea _where you are."

She tried to smile, looking at her hand in mine, "Yeah."

I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand. "Besides, I'm here. And I won't let anything happen to you." Her eyes went to my right side, knowing what was underneath my jacket. She'd seen me put my belt on this morning, check and holster my gun, and grab my badge before we'd left. I wasn't taking any chances. But she nearly threw a fit, demanding that I at least put the safety on, something about not wanting to get shot in the foot.

She glanced away and suddenly shifted to study the sky out the windshield. "Let's go for that walk first, before it starts to rain. I have . . . somewhere I want to take you first . . . before we hit the beach." She opened her door and hopped down to the pavement, and I hurriedly followed her.

She grabbed my hand when we both reached the front of the truck. I noticed her deep breath as we walked by the front of her cabin, but her eyes were focused on the water. There was a gazebo up ahead, and something told me that's where she was headed. We didn't talk, so I took the opportunity to scan the area – the beach, the cabins as we walked by, the cars parked behind them. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the fact that there wasn't anyone around. Not even on the beach, the sky overcast and the sea breeze chilly, even for a summer afternoon.

Because I was looking everywhere else, I was only half paying attention to where we were. Suddenly she yanked me inside the gazebo, but dropped my hand, leaving me at the entrance. She walked up to the edge staring out over the water, gripping onto the railing so hard I could see her knuckles turn white. What was going through her head, I didn't know. I couldn't see her face. All I knew is that I needed to hold her. I took three steps towards her, and pulled her to me with the arms I slid around her waist, burying my face in her curls. Lemons. Whatever it was, I would buy gallons of the stuff for her.

"I saw this gazebo when I first got here. I thought it would be a romantic spot for a couple to stop. That I'd like to kiss the man I love right in the middle of it. But at the time, I just laughed because I had no one to kiss. To love. And to be honest with you, I never thought I would. Amazing, isn't it?" She took a deep breath.

"Yes." I said, as I rested my chin on her shoulder looking out at the water now with her. She'd just said she wanted to kiss the man she loved in this gazebo.

_I'm right behind you, babe._

"Charlie, are we nuts?" she chuckled.

"Yes." I replied honestly. She started to turn around, so I loosened my arms still around her. She put her hands on my chest, resting her forehead in the middle of them. I looked out over her head at the water, holding her, my hand rubbing up and down her back. How could she have ever thought no one would love her?

I pulled her chin up to see into her eyes. "The man who loves you is standing right here. He's going to kiss you now. Probably again in a few minutes. And again and again and again, if you'll let him." I watched as her slow grin started to form, changing into a full-fledged smile that reached the corners of her eyes. I didn't wait another minute to feel her lips. I brushed my tongue over the bottom one, it's smoothness like no other. Her lips parted, and I took full advantage, gently touching that sweet tongue of hers with mine, until I went deeper and deeper. I let my kiss give her all the love, all the happiness I could offer her, wrapping her in my arms, clutching her to me. I felt her small hands slide under my jacket and shirt, her fingernails sliding across the skin on my back. I tickled her cheek with my mustache, gliding my lips over her jaw, feeling her fingernails on my back dig in. I knew she loved that. Until I reached that spot on her neck just under her ear that drove her crazy. I felt her shiver as I glided my tongue over it first, then pressed my lips to it. As I worked my way back to her mouth, I felt her relax into me, almost as if she would've fallen if I weren't holding her up. I plunged my tongue in once more, showing her what I'd plan to do to her later.

She got the message. She took her lips away, her head falling back, which I caught with the hand that I had strategically brought up into her hair. "Charlie . . ." she panted. "If you keep this up, I'm going to go down on you in this gazebo. And I'm sure you wouldn't want all of the, uh, guests to see the Forks Police Chief getting serviced out here in full view." Her eyes closed as she caught her breath.

Her giggle started mine, but then I broke into a full-fledged belly laugh as I thought about what she'd just said. I hugged her to me, kissing the side of her head as she still laughed, her head down in my shirt.

"C'mon, we're supposed to be going for a walk on the beach, remember?" I grabbed her hand, and led her out onto the sand, still giggling. Charlie, Jr. was not happy with my decision.

**BellaPOV**

Edward and I were at the front door, Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle still in the woods out back searching. I used my key and walked in. The living room looked the same, but I could smell both of them intensely. There was a laptop on the end table that I knew didn't belong to my Dad. Catherine's. I walked over to it to double-check the scent. Yes. Why would her laptop be here?

I went into the kitchen as Edward went upstairs. I wrinkled my nose as I caught a whiff of bacon and eggs still in the air. Catherine must have cooked breakfast. Which meant she must have spent the night. Which meant . . .

"Um, Bella, you probably don't want to go upstairs." Edward came into the kitchen.

"Why? What . . ." I stopped mid-step. So that was the strange scent in the air.

"She came back?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. Apparently Charlie got his wish, too. A few times." Edward looked out the back window to see any sign of Alice, Jasper, or Carlisle.

"But why? She was so insistent on not . . ." I started to chew on my fingernail.

"Bella, really. I can't believe you of all people are asking." I saw Edward turn from the window and face me, although I couldn't look at him.

The front door opened and Emmett and Rosalie walked into the kitchen. "So, Charlie got some, eh?" Rosalie smacked him on the back of the head.

Rose turned to me. "I'm sorry, Bella." And then took Emmett by his shirt, twisting it, almost ripping it in her hands. "Dammit, Emmett, just this once can you be serious?" She let him go and walked into the living room.

Emmett followed like a lost puppy. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry. . ."

The front door opened again, this time I went to see . . . it was Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle.

"Bella look." Alice held out a t-shirt and women's underwear. "We found it out back, less than a mile from the house."

"Alice, what the . . ." and I then I caught her scent. I took the shirt and noticed the Chicago White Sox logo. It was Catherine's. The underwear Alice was still holding lavender colored. But there was another. The other scent. The creature's.

"Oh my God. Are those her clothes? Her underwear?" Rosalie was at Alice's side in an instant, looking as if she would puke. "Sick, mother . . ." I knew Rosalie only trailed off because of Carlisle in the room.

"Yes, that's her. And him. It." I revealed, Edward's hands gripping my hips now.

"Did you find anything here? Anything to tell us where they are?" Jasper turned to Edward.

"No, but Catherine came back here last night. She and Charlie . . ." Edward stopped. But there was no need. We all knew what happened last night.

"Her laptop's here," and I turned and pointed at it on the table.

"Why would she bring her laptop? Emmett, Rose, was it here when you were here?" Carlisle asked.

"No. At least it wasn't on that table. There was a beer on that table when we saw him." Rosalie chimed in.

"Wait. Emmett, you said Charlie was watching TV when you and Rose were here, right?" Carlisle asked.

"Yep. On that couch." Emmett pointed to emphasize the spot.

"Why would Catherine leave and then come back?" Jasper asked, looking at Carlisle. Then, he turned and walked over toward the stereo, trying to rationalize what could only be irrational human woman behavior.

"Duh." Emmett offered.

"Geez, Emmett, lay off the my Dad and Catherine, um . . . er . . . We all know it. Just move _on_." I wouldn't say I screamed at him, but raising my voice was still a tame description.

"Yes, Emmett, you're not helping." Carlisle looked ticked.

**CharliePOV**

We walked and walked, her mood where I needed it to be so I could joke with her about how bad my clothes looked on her, especially the rolled up bottoms. And how I absolutely, positively did not find them sexy at all. She seemed to be offended at that, and sucker punched me in the gut. She started to run, expecting retaliation. So I took off after her, neither of us fast running in the sand. But I finally caught her, pulling her down on top of me on the sand, careful of my gun, both of us panting and laughing like we were completely out of shape.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" She teased, as she fell off to my side, running her hand over my belly, watching it. Her eyes went to my gun, suddenly realizing it was still there. She glanced back at her hand, and pulled up on my t-shirt, now rubbing my bare skin. She leaned over and kissed softly where her hand had just had been. She looked up at me, with that wicked grin of hers, and I grabbed her hand before she would get me into anymore trouble. I pushed her over on her back, locking both hands on either side of her head.

"Catherine Scarlett O'Hara, I'm going to have to arrest you for assault on a police officer." I leaned in and quickly caught her top lip between mine.

"Really? I've never been arrested. Are you gonna handcuff me too?" The twinkle in her eye told me she just might want me to.

_Holy shit._ The corners of my mouth slowly turned into a very evil smile. "Why, Miss O'Hara, you are just full of surprises, aren't you."

"_You_ have no idea." I laughed out loud as I remembered saying the exact same thing to her on the phone one morning.

I rolled back on my side, letting go of her hands, letting my one hand glide over her shoulder, to softly caress the top of her breast. I looked up to see if anyone was around. Nope. So I let my thumb go back and forth across her nipple until I heard her moan. I took the whole handful, massaging, as I brought my mouth back to hers.

"Take me right here, dammit." She mumbled through my kiss. I felt her hand come up over my shoulder, her fingers running over my neck to play in my hair. For two seconds, I actually thought about it. Both of us. There.

"Sand. Way to uncomfortable," I said as I lifted my mouth from hers. I watched as the wind played with those sexy curls thrown all over the place in the sand, and brushed one off her forehead. I ran my fingers over her cheekbone, and down to her lips, pulling out the bottom one as my thumb past over it. Her pupils were as dilated as Charlie Jr. was uncomfortable. We needed to head back, as I looked up to see storm clouds rolling in. She wasn't going to like my suggestion.

"What do you say we go back to the cabin, shower, and I let you change into something . . . more . . . less . . . anything not like what you're wearing? Then maybe we can go get dinner at the lodge?" I smiled, but it wasn't enough. Her expression changed, and I felt, rather than saw, the fingers of her hand opposite me dig into the sand.

"Yeah, we probably should . . . go get my stuff."

Ok, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She lifted her head off the sand, so I stood up, offering my hand to help her up. We both dusted what sand we could off of our clothes.

"God, I hate sand." She said, rubbing it off the back of her thighs and then her ass. I walked over to her to get what she couldn't reach on her jacket, giving her ass a pat while I was back there. She jumped and ran around me, putting both of her palms on my ass and squeezing. I started to run away, but slowed so she could catch up, grabbing my hand.

I looked up to see how far we'd come and I was surprised, probably over a mile I would guess. Neither of us had said anything for awhile, when she dropped my hand to pick up a shell.

"Charlie, how am I going to leave you in less than week?" The question was so out of the blue I didn't know what to say at first. Leave? Of course, she had to go back, to her job, to her family, to her life. _Fuck._ I'd been so . . . so wrapped up in the last few days I hadn't even thought about it.

"You just pack your things, get your car, and fly out of Seattle." Yeah, that didn't come out the way I wanted it to. After I said it, I wanted to bash my own head in. Of course I would drive her to the airport. Of course I wouldn't let her out of my sight until she was safely on the plane and it was in the sky.

I looked up at her from where I'd been focusing on the crap in the sand. She was walking, head down, slightly in front of me.

"That simple, huh?" She sounded pissed. _Shit._

"No." I didn't want her to go. Ever.

We walked some more before I said, "We'll figure it out."

She stopped and turned toward me. "I'm not asking you to drop everything and come back to Chicago with me, just so you know." She started to walk away, and something about it twisted like a knife in my gut. I reached out and grabbed her arm to pull her back, and took both her hands in mine, staring at them. I could feel her looking at me, waiting . . . for something.

"I know you're not. It's just . . . well . . ." I looked up and tried to smile at her. Her eyes searched mine, wanting me to say it, to make it easy. "I can't leave here, Catherine. I think you know that. But I can't . . . I know you just can't leave everything to come live in a bustling metropolis like Forks, either." _Ugh._ It was like Renee all over again. Her hand came up to my chest, right over my heart. I was sure she could feel it racing.

"Yeah. You're whole life is here, just as my whole life is back in Chicago. We're in a bit of a pickle, aren't we?" She let her hand fall, and I took it back in mine.

"Let's not talk about this now, ok? We've got a few more days together before we need to think about it." I didn't _want_ to think about it. I didn't want to think about her going back to Chicago. I didn't want to consider the fact that this might not work.

We had another hurdle to get over first. The cabin.

"Good idea," and she ripped her hands from mine, running away. "C'mon, old man, I'll race you!" the last part almost lost to me as she turned to get an even bigger head start.

I let her think she was winning until we were to the gazebo, when I took off ahead of her for the win. I stopped and turned and noticed a storm was getting closer. Fuck, if we had to wait it out in the cabin, Catherine would freak.

I turned to see her, and she wasn't running anymore, but walking. Slowly. Staring at the ground. I waited for her, because I knew she had to do this on her own. She looked up at me, as I leaned against the post of the awning, and then she started to jog. I knew she was going to be ok.

"I win." I said as she strolled up.

"Yes, yes, whatever. I told you I was slow." She half-laughed.

I pulled out the key and opened the door, poking my head in just to make sure and take a look around. She hesitated for a second, and then walked through the door. She stopped just inside, but enough room for me to close the door and lock it behind us. She looked around the room, and then at the bed which had been stripped. Her suitcase was zipped shut and on the couch. I reached to touch her shoulder, but she walked to the bathroom, flipping on the light, and stood in the doorway.

She suddenly turned around. "Um, I'm not going to wash my hair, because my stuff's at your house, but I want to rinse the sand off. You want to shower first, or should I?" I wanted to suggest together, but that could wait.

I walked over to her, finally taking her in my arms. "Are you ok?" She put her head to my chest, and her hands on my lower back.

"Yeah. I'm ok. But let's get washed up so we can go eat and get the hell out of here." She lifted her head up, gave me a quick kiss, and turned into the bathroom. "Go on. I'll be out in a minute." I stepped back to let her close the door.

I heard the water running, so I chanced a look around. The flowers I had given her were still on the counter, almost dead. Any other evidence of her having actually stayed here gone, except for the suitcase. I took my cell phone out to see if anyone had called. Hmmm. Bella. I'd call her back on the drive back.

I realized that she hadn't taken any clothes with her into the bathroom, so I picked up the suitcase and opened it on the chair. Everything that had been there seemed to still be there, although I wasn't sure I remembered everything I'd seen that night. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt the color of her eyes. Then I remembered she needed underwear, well, she didn't really need it because it was just going to come off in a few hours. But something told me she would get a kick out of whatever I chose. The woman was definitely into pink, but then I noticed black. Lace. Lots of it. A matching set. I couldn't wait to see it on her. Off her. _Shit, Swan, get a grip._

I heard the water turn off, so I walked over to the door and knocked. "I, uh, have something you might want." I heard movement, and then from behind the door.

"What?" she asked without opening it.

"Clothes." She opened the door a crack, and I half-laughed as I saw the towel around her. I remembered the other morning, the same view.

"Thanks." She said and closed the door. I heard her laugh.

"Is this for me or for you?" She kept laughing as I went over to wait for my turn on the couch, throwing my jacket on the chair. I heard clicks and clacks coming from the bathroom, and I couldn't imagine what the hell she was doing. A lightening flash out the window caught my eye. Another half hour and we'd be driving to the lodge rather than walking. Probably better anyway, since I didn't think she'd want to come back here.

The bathroom door opened and I looked to see her in the clothes I'd picked, knowing full well what was underneath them. "Your turn," she said, taking a few steps out and towards me. I met her halfway, standing just out of reach, taking in her jeans and that blue shirt. It did match her eyes. I reached out to touch it, but surprised her by taking a handful of it and pulled her to me. My fingers went up to the skin left bare by the v in her shirt, and then pulled it back so I could get a glimpse. . .

"Hey. Dessert comes after dinner," she said as she swatted my hand away. I chuckled and walked into the bathroom.

**BellaPOV**

We'd looked all over the house, all over the woods, but no other clues.

"We'll have to do this the hard way. Everyone, get a good whiff of Catherine's clothes. We'll fan out and see what we can find. Since Charlie and Catherine are in a car, presumably Charlie's, it will be more difficult. I say we go west, and then south, since we've already covered most of the territory between here and Canada. I also think we should head toward the coast and then down, covering any beach we can find. We know we don't have to go to First Beach, because Bella knows it's not that one." Jasper, the general. Or at least he could have been.

"I'll call Esme and tell her to tell Jacob to let the pack know we will most likely be passing through Quileute land, at least initially." Carlisle was up and in the kitchen, cell phone to his ear.

"Man, we have to be able to pick up this guy's scent _somewhere_." Emmett pounded his fist into his hand. He so wanted to get his hands on this guy. I couldn't wait to watch when he did.

"You guys go. Edward and I will catch up." I looked around the room at all of them. Alice came up to hug me, and kissed me on the cheek.

"Don't worry, Bella. We'll find them. And Edward will know if I see anything else. C'mon, Jazz." And they went out the door.

"Rose and I will take the car down the 101, and leave it somewhere. In case we need it. We'll go out on foot after that." Emmett grabbed Rosalie's hand to lead her toward the door.

"We'll find them, Bella." She looked back at me, and then ran out with Emmett in tow.

Carlisle came back from the kitchen. "Esme and Jacob are handling things from there. The pack wants to get involved, but Jacob won't let them. He has them surrounding the cottage, just in case. Oh, and Nessie is beside herself. Esme said to tell you she hasn't been out of Jake's arms since she got there. Probably not what you want to hear right now, but Esme thought you'd want to know." Carlisle looked away as he put his phone in his pocket.

Edward's expression told me he was struggling with the image of his daughter being comforted by Jacob. "Bella . . ."

"Edward. One thing at a time. We have to get to Charlie and Catherine first. Then, we'll worry about Nessie and Jake." I realized I'd called Renesmee by her pet name, something I normally didn't do. It still reminded me of when the Volturi had come.

Carlisle ran through the front door, then Edward. I stopped to lock the door behind me, and then walked out into the middle of the yard, looking back at the house. For some reason, I had a strange feeling that it would never be the same. We just had to find them. And we had to do it before the irreversible damage to Catherine . . .

* * *

**A/N:**

Yeah, I kinda have a thing for gazebos. If you look up Kalaloch Lodge, they really do have one right on the beach. I swear. Google it if you don't believe me.

I kinda also have a thing for Charlie...or Billy Burke. Did everyone get his new album? Preeetty good. Love the song "The Low Road". And of course, Removed.

For anyone who cares, I'm on Twitter: (at)EdwardsChipper. Follow at your own risk. I tend to tweet song lyrics, am foul-mouthed, and clinically insane.

So. Will they...or...won't they? You'll find out. Next.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** So here we are. The song for this chapter is where it all started for me. I'd found out through a RPatz iTunes playlist that it was one of his favs. I added it to a playlist I already had of some of the Rach favs you seen throughout already. The melody is hauntingly Barber at his finest, besides his Adagio for Strings, and it playing in the background of about 5 trips home from work somehow wrought this story from of me.

I will not waste your time with any more drivel from me, except to say:

I don't own anything Twilight. Duh.

**Warning: Do **_**not**_** read this chapter if you have issues with sexual assault or rape.**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Barber, (First) Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12

**CathPOV**

I went to the front door, but thought twice about opening it and actually going outside to shake the sand out of my jacket. Jiggling the lock, I made sure it was still secure. I just flicked my jacket in the cabin, not caring about the sand that went on the floor, and put it on. My stomach churned when I caught site of the bed, my imagination conjuring up a picture of him . . . doing . . . I quickly focused my attention out the patio doors. It couldn't be much more than 4:00, but I wasn't going to turn around to find the clock. The clock was on the table next to the bed, and I wasn't going to look at it again.

I desperately tried to not let the next few minutes of Charlie's shower bother me. Just being in this place gave me the willies, but I wanted to get over it. Dammit, I didn't want to be afraid anymore. _Stupid girl._ Either I stop letting this guy get to me, or Charlie would start thinking I was a mental case. But one thing was for sure . . . as soon as Charlie was finished there was no way we were coming back to this place.

At least I would have the rest of my clothes, the rest of my _things_. The asshole wouldn't be able to add any more to his collection. But the first thing I would do as soon as we got back to Charlie's was throw them all in the washing machine, even if there wasn't any evidence of him touching them. It was bad enough I had to wear what I had on.

Maybe I would just pitch all of it. I wasn't sure if I wanted clothes against my skin that he touched. They would always be a reminder . . .

Maybe I could call Bella, to see if Alice could make some recommendations on where to go shopping for new . . . Maybe we could all go together. If what Charlie said was true, that Bella was okay with me, it would be fun to have a girls' day before I left. Give Charlie some guy time for an afternoon, and hopefully a better chance to get to know Bella.

The sky was darker now, much more so than when we'd come in, and the storm would only make it more so. I usually liked thunderstorms. But not here. Not in this cabin. I shivered, even with my jacket on, feeling pinpricks on the back of my neck as the goosebumps popped on my arms. The same weird feeling I had on that first night I sat on this very patio. I glanced over at the now-dead flowers Charlie had given me what seemed like ages ago. Even though this cabin was the reason I'd met Charlie, I knew. I _never_ wanted to set foot it in again.

I didn't like where my thoughts were taking me, and knew the storm was partly why. I went to turn on the light when a flash of lightening lit up the sky.

_Wait._ _What was . . . something . . . off to the side of the tree . . . just beyond the fence._ I stepped closer to the window, trying to see. But there was nothing there.

There was _nothing there_.

"Dammit, Catherine!" I said out loud, shutting my eyes and shaking my head, willing the panic to go away. Slow, deep breaths. _Yes. I'm fine. Charlie will be out in a minute._ I opened my eyes. _Stupid storm_. _Stop being such a wuss_ . . . another flash of lightening.

But this time . . .

This time, I saw it. Next to the tree. A man with a hood over his head. _Him._ He was looking right at me, as if he knew it was me standing there, as if he was . . . My feet moved backwards, running into the coffee table with the back of my calf.

The bathroom door opened. "Okay, no more sand on me," I heard Charlie say off to my left.

Time stood still as did my heartbeat, holding my breath, my body frozen. My eyes searched the darkness across his face . . . _I had to make sure, I had to . . ._ and as if in macabre reply, the corners of his mouth twisted up to become the horror I remembered.

"Catherine?" I could see from the corner of my eye Charlie was next to the chair, putting his second arm into his coat. _Did he have his gun?_ My eyes stared forward not wanting to turn, not able to warn. . . .

_Charlie._ My lips moved, but nothing came out. As they did, a rush of cool damp wind was the only indication the front door had opened, and I gasped . . .

"Good evening." The slamming of it made me jump back, running into the couch.

The door had been locked . . . I'd checked it myself.

That smile. The same smile I saw in the woods.

My feet were moving backward, but suddenly I felt my shirt tugged. Charlie had reached over the table, grabbing it, and now pulled me slowly backwards. As I came next to him, he pushed me behind him, towards the bed, keeping himself between me and the man. My hand slowly searched for the denim of Charlie's jacket, scrunching it in my fingers.

"There's no need to be rude, Chief Swan. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Damian. I've been waiting for you. For _both_ of you." He stretched his hand out, as if wanting to shake. Charlie's head bobbed, making me think he looked at the man's hand, but then back at his face, rejecting the offer.

He had an accent. I hadn't noticed his accent before. European of some sort.

"Right. Listen, buddy, if you know I'm the Chief, then you know you're under arrest . . ." I felt Charlie's arm move. I didn't know if Charlie was going for his badge or his cell phone.

"Under arrest? For?" the man asked.

"For breaking and entering. For stalking. You have the right to remain silent . . ." Charlie stopped mid-Miranda as suddenly, the man was no longer in front of the door, but a foot in front of Charlie, and his phone flying across the room.

"I see." It came out like a hiss. I never saw him walk, run, _move_. He was just there. I pulled slightly on Charlie's jacket to get him away. He took a step backwards toward me, his left arm reaching behind, holding me against him. The man took another step forward, and I felt Charlie reach for his gun.

"Perhaps you were looking for this?" I peeked around Charlie's shoulder to the man holding up the gun by the handle for Charlie to see.

He had Charlie's gun.

_How the hell did he?_ . . .

Charlie's hand patted his right side. His right hand went palm up, but he kept his left arm around me. "All right. Let's just stay calm. Why don't you just take the gun and go right back out that door, and we'll forget all about this." The man laughed, although it sounded again like a hiss.

Charlie was between me and a man with a gun. _Charlie's_ gun.

I could feel my hands starting to shake, so I grabbed for Charlie's side, a fistful of shirt under his jacket. I felt Charlie push back, as the man took one more step forward. There was nowhere to go; the backs of my lower thighs hit the bed.

"Actually, I have something infinitely more delightful planned. You see, Chief Swan, my initial mission was only for the woman. _Catherine_." His head darted around Charlie's as he said my name - slow, sarcastic and menacing, and it made my whole body shiver.

"Mission?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. A very _elite _mission. But you see, you _interfered_. If only you would have, what's the idiom? Ah yes, _minded your own business_. If only you would have refrained from . . . _forcing _yourself onher. Mind you, I recognize she is far from innocent. Oh yes. She is quite the _whore_, and she will pay dearly for it. You see, my orders are not to _kill you_, Chief Swan. But when I'm finished with you, and her, you'll be prostrate, imploring me to do so."

_Whore? . . . she will pay dearly . . . not to kill Charlie . . . but . . . Omigod. _

Charlie's elbow came back, as if he were going to throw a punch, but I heard a smack, and the next thing I knew, Charlie was on the floor at my feet, his gun falling down from a dent in the wall, landing just out of my reach.

"No!" My hands went out to touch him, but a then a momentary searing pain shot through the side of my head and all went black.

**CharliePOV**

I was on the floor. _Fuck._ My head throbbing, my cheek even more. _Catherine._ My eyelids didn't want to cooperate. . .

"Ughh..." Something kicked me in the gut, sending my back against the bedpost, and I felt a crack. For a moment, I couldn't breathe, sucking in air, but all I could think of was...

_Catherine. Where are you?_

A hand gathered bits of jacket and shirt at my waist right where a foot had just been, and hoisted me up in the air. My eyes burst open to see the fucker carrying me with one hand, the pain shooting into my back.

I couldn't help hissing through my teeth as my knees hit the floor in front of the couch. My arms were whipped back, and I felt familiar metal cuffs locking around my wrists to the wood frame. It was so fast, I wouldn't have even known, if not for the pain shooting through my shoulders.

_How did he . . . handcuff me so fast? . . ._

My head pounded.

_No, where the_ fuck_ did he get handcuffs? _

As if reading my mind, "Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't inform you that I purloined those from your domicile." _My what?_ I put two-and-two together, realizing what he meant. My own cuffs.

The crashing sound of wood splintering somewhere to my right made me look up to see the coffee table in the kitchen, shattered as if it were toothpicks. Although I'd seen it with my eyes, I didn't want to believe it. This . . . this _freak _was stronger, faster, than anything . . . Forgetting the throbbing in my knees, my eyes darted to where Catherine had been . . . standing . . . I could just make her out. Lying still on the bed.

_Fuck! Did he kill her?_

"Listen, I don't know who you are. Just let her go. She hasn't done anything . . ." He knelt in front of me, my eyes meeting his with as much strength as I could muster.

_I'm not going to bow to you, prick_.

But . . . his eyes . . . they were golden . . . they were like . . .

"Oh no, Chief Swan. She most certainly has. She has betrayed me. With you. _You_, I am _forbidden_ to kill. But you see, for her, I have designed a more elaborate, hmmm, _departure._ Recompense for her infidelity. Yes. And you? For you, I have arranged an exceptional performance. You are going to observe, just as I have observed all of your tawdry depravities since the very first day. The day I could have made her mine. That day in the forest, where my ears first heard her lilting voice, where this hand touched her velvety skin." He held up his hand, admiring it, remembering the way he fucking _touched _her.

_I would break every finger . . ._

"You see, Charlie Swan, I must fulfill my destiny and terminate hers." He smiled. Catherine once had said it was sinister. I called it psychopath.

I struggled with the cuffs, but it was no use. "Keep your fucking hands off her!" I yelled. Inside my head, I begged.

_Please don't touch her._

I felt his hand slide slowly down my right arm and stop just past my elbow. "We will commence here. With you." he said, and then his hand squeezed around my arm. Crack.

"AAAUUGH!" Sharp, stinging bolts of fire shot into my hand and up into my shoulder, feeling disappearing from my fingers. My arm . . . He'd broken my arm . . . with his _bare hand_!

"Mo . . . ther _fucker_." Another whack came across my face, and my head hit the couch. Little specks of light flickered as I tried to see, as the edges of the room began to fade. I was going under.

_NO. I have to stay with it. I have to_ . . . _God, please_. _I have to move my feet. I have to get the pull off my already broken arm._

I slowly pushed my feet out from underneath me and leaned against the couch.

_Fuck, I need to breathe. Cocksucker must've broken my rib._

"Unnnh . . ." Through the fog, I heard her. A groggy moan, but it meant . . . she was alive! It took all I had to lift my head up, to move my eyes, to try and focus so I could just see her. She curled her legs up slowly into a ball, but I couldn't see her face. With her sound and my movement, though, the psycho heard her too, turning on his knees toward Catherine on the bed.

"Now . . . she's _mine_."

His head whipped back around to stare at me. I wiggled my good hand in the cuffs. But a sudden tug on my dick and balls brought my eyes back to his.

_What the fuck?_

"You are extremely lucky, Chief Swan, I don't rid you of this," and he twisted what was in his hand.

"Sonofa . . . uhhh!" The flickering specks were everywhere, the edges of the room now growing black. I tried to breathe, but all I could manage were short gasps.

_I'll kill you._ My lips moved, but I couldn't make a sound. My head fell back on the couch, my eyes on her. Only on her. Because I knew I couldn't save her from what was to come. I couldn't save either of us. We were both going to die.

_Bella _. . .

**BellaPOV**

Edward and I were just south of La Push when my cell phone rang. It was the station.

"Hey, Bella, it's Tracy. I just thought you might want to know. Larson just came in and said Charlie told him he'd be with Catherine today, at the cabin. Something about getting the rest of her things."

"Cabin? What things?" I could barely control the speed of my voice.

"Yes, Catherine's staying at the Kalaloch Lodge. Well, she _was_. I guess they're going there to get her clothes."

"Was?"

"Yeah, your Dad thinks she has a stalker. She had a pretty scary run-in with a guy in the woods a few days ago, and then they think the same guy broke into her cabin. Stole some of her clothes. Kinda creepy, if you ask me."

"She did? He did?" _Why didn't Charlie tell me?_ "You're kidding?"

"Nope. I think she's, uh, staying with your Dad until we catch the guy. Charlie didn't tell you any of this?" She sounded nervous.

"No, but you know Charlie. Probably didn't want to worry me. Okay, I'll just wait until he calls me back. He's probably . . . busy. Thanks, Trace. And give my thanks to Larson, too." I slammed my phone shut. I realized I'd just assumed Catherine lived in the area. But she wasn't from around here. She was staying . . . at the Lodge. The Lodge where quaint cabins nestled right up to a beach. Just south of where Edward and I stood. The storm was now up to the coast, the rain drenching us.

Edward was already on the phone with Emmett, telling them to drive to the outskirts of Kalaloch Lodge in Quinault and hide the car. He and Rosalie were about twenty minutes north of Oil City.

I dialed Alice, telling her what Tracy had just told me.

"Bella, the vision's not changing."

"Go, Alice!" I yelled into the phone. One of us had to reach them. Rose and Emmett were the closest, but they were in the car. Edward and I could possibly make it down the coast and beat them there. Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle were just to the east of us.

"C'mon, Bella. We'll get there." Edward took my hand, and we started to run. _I'm coming, Dad, I'm coming, Dad,_ repeated in my head.

**CathPOV**

The pain in my head was in the same spot as the other day, but infinitely worse, more like ice picks driving in my head and out my eyeball. Something soft touched the skin underneath my face, my body. I heard my moan before I realized it was me, and struggled to move my legs, bringing them up to my chest. _Where was . . . I?_ And then I remembered. The man. I didn't want to open my eyes.

_This is a dream. _

Charlie's cry of pain came from somewhere across the room . . . somewhere. _Charlie!_

I rolled over and tried to focus on his voice. But something was in the way. At first, it was all a blur . . . but then three fuzzy images took shape, rolling, dancing . . . until they suddenly melded into . . .

_The man_.

Damian. He was walking toward me, his hands slowly rubbing together in some sort of sick satisfaction. "Observing, are you? Charlie Swan?"

My head pounded as I tried to sit up, pushing backwards, trying to get away from him, but my shoulders hit the headboard. There was nowhere to go. I felt my head moving back and forth as the word "Please" came out, my one hand shooting out in front of me to stop him. But as it did, I flew down the bed as my ankles were pulled, Damian now kneeling between my legs. His hood had come off, and I could see his face. His _whole_ face, his cropped blond hair, the sharp angular jaw, the light eyes. _Light golden eyes._ The same color eyes as . . .

Bella. _Bella?_

No, this can't be _wasn't_ happening.

Suddenly, his hand clenched the center of my shirt, my bra, and pulled. I nearly strangled, as my clothes were ripped from me, my hands, my arms trying to cover . . . I tried to scream, but his hand was instantly over my mouth and nose, blocking any air, suffocating me, but all I could think of was Charlie.

_Charlie, where are you? Are you alive? Please be alive._

The monster's, Damian's, face was inches from mine. "Catherine, although you _will_ want to howl in pain and agony before I am finished with you, it wouldn't be wise. While I adore a useless struggle, I cannot have you drawing attention to our activities. Your willingness to cooperate will determine his fate. If you guarantee your silence, I will let him live." His hand lifted slightly from my mouth.

. . . _howl in pain and agony_ . . . My mind had nearly shut down when understanding dawned all too quickly.

_My God, what was he going to do . . . _

._ Charlie must live._ It's all I wanted. Charlie had . . . everything . . . to live for.

"Oh, _Catherine_ . . . are you ready to accept your fate? Our_ destiny_?"

His words came out hushed, almost like some sensuous invitation, his freezing breath wafting over my face as he pushed down harder on my mouth again.

_Our destiny?_ _But Charlie_ . . . All I could do was blink. As I did, his hand lifted.

Air. I took a few quick gulps and found my voice.

"As long . . . as you don't . . . kill him, as long as . . ." I begged, even though the words jarred my already bruising lips.

"Catherine, no!" _Charlie. _He was still alive.

I wanted to smile, but I stared straight up at the ceiling. Every moment that I'd had with Charlie started to flash in front of my eyes, in his arms on the side of the road, his hand outstretched with flowers, the baseball game, the first time we . . .

A cold hand running down my cheek brought me back to the monster hovering over me.

"Remove your arms." His voice was cold, void, demanding.

_Do what you're told, Catherine. You just have to survive . . . this. Submit, and Charlie will live._

His hand was like ice traveling down my neck, across my bare stomach, to my . . . my body started to shake. I couldn't stop it. I clenched my teeth, but a stinging pain made me squeal as his hand cruelly twisted my breast. I felt the tears welling in the corners of my eyes. Tears I didn't want to shed. He would _not _see me cry.

He forced my hands above my head with such speed I thought my arms were going to come out of my sockets. I couldn't help but cry out, but his mouth came down on mine, crushing me into the mattress, his tongue reminding me of a reptile, as I tried not to touch it with my own. I felt the skin of my lips tear from his cold hard mouth as it stretched mine open, the searing causing a muffled squeal I didn't want to make. His fingernails scratched across my body like a rake, clawing, digging, until they were . . .

_No! NO! . . . please . . . not that . . . Charlie, don't watch . . ._

I pushed my lower body away, twisting as much as I could.

"Do you like _my_ touch, Catherine? How does it feel to be _my_ whore, Cath . . . erine?" My name came out like a hissed whisper, as his cold breath came across my face, his mouth pressed to mine again. I could taste the blood from the cuts inside my lips where they had met my teeth. Then his mouth traveled down, down, the ice trail making me shiver uncontrollably, until his mouth was . . .

_I can't do this._

A scream froze halfway, turning into a gurgle, as I felt something cold . . . hard . . . frozen, between my legs . . . _enter me_. I swallowed the vomit, trying to scream, beg for mercy, but nothing came out. He was . . . It was . . . Over and over . . . Like dry ice chafing my insides. Fire and ice. My body was being torn apart. Pulverized.

Just when I thought the agony couldn't get worse, something snapped, sending fiery blasts into my back and down my legs, but I had nothing left to scream.

His force now shook my body like a rag doll, the pain so intense I thought I would break in half. _God, please help me. Please hear me._ Blackness crept in from the edges, closing in. I was going to die. I couldn't fight. I _wanted_ to die. I felt him . . . he had . . . the icy liquid inside me, like liquid nitrogen, freezing everything it touched, my lower body numb.

_Please let it be over. Please let me die._

"No, please. Kill me. Let her go," Charlie weakly pleaded. He was here, somewhere. I followed the sound, rolling my head to the side. I willed my eyes to focus, to find him. If I could just see him one last . . . until understanding hit like another blow to my head.

He had seen . . . _everything_.

"Char . . . lie, noooo . . ."

My head snapped as I felt a thousand needles in my scalp and thought my hair was being pulled out. I could barely make out the monster's face, my mind and heart giving way. My eyes rolled up and over to meet his, only to see his smile now two rows of countless teeth. My lungs filled with all the air I could suck in, and with what strength I had left, I screamed louder than I thought possible, until those teeth disappeared and a thousand knives tore into my neck.

_Charlie_ . . .

A disturbing warmth started to move through me. A warmth that shouldn't be . . .

_OHHHH. _

Fire. _Real _fire. Fire like a million red-hot pokers, stabbing, searing my neck, my shoulders. Then, down my body, everywhere.

_Was I already dead? Was this hell? _

**CharliePOV**

"No, please. Kill me. Let her go." With every ounce of breath still left in me, I begged him. I would've gotten on my knees if I weren't already there. It was no use. He was killing her right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do.

_Catherine, I'm sorry. _

Just as I said it, her head rolled to the side, her eyes searching for me. With everything left in me, I lifted my head up off the couch.

"Charlie, noooo . . ."

_No, Catherine, don't speak. Don't . . ._

The psycho pulled her hair so hard, I thought he'd snapped her head from her spine. But then, his face went down to her neck. I heard her weak cry, and then her struggle for breath.

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry_. The words ran over and over in my head.

He sat up, as Catherine's arms started to twitch. His head went down to her breast, her stomach, her thigh. I could see his face, his mouth, covered in blood.

He was . . . he was . . .

He eyes came up and met mine, blood dripping from the sides of his mouth. Her blood. He was _biting_ . . .

_Catherine!_

The blackness swooped in, because I had nothing left in me to fight it.

**BellaPOV**

I could see the Lodge.

Edward let go of my hand, and we both raced ahead. The scent of blood, both of theirs, compelling us both to a speed we'd never reached. We'd never had to.

We both arrived at the front of the cabin, Edward holding out his arm to keep me from charging in.

"Edward?" We both could smell the blood, the sweet scent almost overwhelming. The venom pooled in the back of my throat. I hadn't felt a burn like it in . . .

Edward broke through the door, hurling himself at the creature. I stopped just inside as Emmett and Jasper sped by me to help Edward. Catherine's naked body lay writhing on the linenless bed, covered in blood, smeared over the bare mattress, his bite marks down the front of her. I didn't inhale, fighting with the instinctual urge to . . .

My eyes flew to Charlie, arms cuffed behind his back, his head resting on the couch, eyes closed.

"_Dad_!" I dropped to my knees in front of him, touching his cheeks with my hands.

"Dad, please," I whispered. He didn't move. The blood on his face, soaked into his shirt, not bothering me anymore. But I could feel his heart still beating, feel his warmth. He was still alive.

"Dad, can you hear me?" Nothing.

I turned back to see Carlisle covering Catherine's body with a blanket; wherever he found it, I didn't know. Alice sat next to her, holding her arms, telling her everything would be okay, just like she'd done before. Just like in the vision.

We were too late.

Emmett and Jasper had wrestled the monster from Edward, and now were holding him to the side of the bed. There was a body-sized dent in the wall where one of them had nearly broken through it in the struggle. Edward stood behind them, and from my vantage point, seemed to be unharmed. He searched for me around the prisoner in front of him, and our eyes met. He was okay. I wondered if he could read the mind of . . .

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed Rosalie by what was left of the front door. She was staring at the scene in front of her. She glanced at me, and then started slowly walking forward to the side of the bed. Her outstretched arm gently touching Catherine's unmoving leg covered by the blanket.

Carlisle's concerned face followed Rosalie. We all did. The last time she had experience with this much blood was . . . when I'd given birth.

"Rosalie. Look at me. We'll do what we can." Rosalie looked at Carlisle, and then back at Catherine, her eyes huge. For a moment, I thought the blood would be too enticing. I thought Rose might . . .

"Catherine, we're all here to help you. Charlie is . . ." she glanced back at me, and I slowly nodded my head. "Charlie is alive." Catherine's arms continued to struggle as if she hadn't heard a word.

"Baby, would you like to have the honor?" Emmett knew the immense satisfaction Rosalie would take in tearing the first limb, and the benefit of getting her attention away from Catherine. He and Jasper held the sadistic vampire's arms as Edward clutched his throat, ready to end him quickly if needed. But Rosalie didn't take the arm offered to her by Emmett. She flashed instantly to stand within inches from him, and palmed every inch of his maleness in her hand, his jeans still around his ankles.

"Do you like my hand there?" she whispered menacingly, squeezing her fingers and twisting her hand slightly. He didn't answer. "Because it's the last time you're gonna feel anything." She didn't give him another chance to respond. With a flick of her wrist, she ripped off every inch of it. Before his screech could be heard by anyone, they were out the door and off to a remote stretch of beach to finish what Rosalie had started. I just hoped Edward was able to get something . . . anything . . . from inside the monster's head.

I turned back to Charlie, and softly ran my hand over his cheek. "Dad? Can you hear me?"

"Bella?" It was a mere whisper.

"I'm here, Dad. I'm here."

He coughed as his eyes scrunched and then fluttered open. He tried to lift his head, but his wince told me the pain was too much. "Catherine? Where is she? Is she dead? What happened to the . . ."

"Dad, just calm down. We took care of him. Carlisle's with Catherine." I knew Carlisle's diagnosis without even hearing it. There were only two possible outcomes. We had to get them out of there fast - Catherine's teeth-clenched cries from the pain and burning would soon turn into screams.

"Bella . . . the key. I don't have it," Charlie said breathlessly. He strained his head around me trying to see what Carlisle was doing to Catherine.

"I don't need a key, Dad." I held him close as I reached around, and with my fingers, crushed the chain between the two cuffs. He winced as I caught his broken right forearm, resting it in his lap, and then helped him bring around the other one, stiff from bearing his weight. His head fell into my shoulder as I reached for each wrist, breaking through the metal of each cuff with my fingertips. His full weight was on me, though he didn't feel heavier than a two-year-old Renesmee. Gingerly, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Dad. I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner." I left my cheek pressed to his for a moment, swallowing the venom pooling in the back of my throat. "I know you have a broken arm. Is there anything else . . . did he . . ."

"I'm all right. I'll be all right. Bella, how did you just . . ."

"Nevermind," I quickly answered.

"Bella, can you get me over to her? I can't . . ." I had him next to Catherine and sitting on the bed before he could finish the thought, careful not to squeeze as I knew a few of his ribs were broken, too. Curiously, he didn't ask about the speed at which I moved him, too focused on the woman in front of him. I sat behind him, supporting his chest, careful of his ribs. Alice stood in front of him, still holding Catherine's upper arm, Carlisle immobilizing the arm on the other side. Catherine's writhing had shifted the blanket and Charlie could see her shoulders and the gaping bite mark on her neck - enough of her mangled and bloodied body.

"Nooo," he sobbed. He reached out to grasp her forearm with his one good one, letting his broken one fall to his lap. He searched her face, but her eyes remained tightly shut.

"Charlie, you have to let me tend to that arm . . ." Carlisle attempted to avert Charlie's attention.

"No! No. Don't worry about me." His eyes never left Catherine's face.

"Catherine. Catherine! I'm here. Can you hear me?" Her head shifted slightly, as if trying to find the voice she had just heard, but then her face twisted again. The burning was too intense.

"What's going on? Will she be okay?" His eyes left Catherine to stare directly at Carlisle.

"Her entire pelvis is in pieces, Charlie. But . . ." Carlisle glanced at me as Charlie's gaze swept down Catherine's body.

"He _bit_ her, Charlie. We only have moments. I have to . . . close the wounds or she'll bleed to death. You must make the decision for her. We have to get her back to the house." Charlie's face flew to Carlisle's. Carlisle's eyes met mine. The similarities in this situation, and the one that Edward found himself in with me after James, were not lost on either of us.

"Decision? What decision? I want her to _live_, dammit." He gasped as his rib pain made it difficult to speak. "I want you to_ help_ her, Carlisle. Can't _you_ help her? You're a doctor, for chrissake." He leaned back, and I knew the pain was not merely from his broken bones now, but his heart, too.

I put my arms around my Dad's shoulders. "Dad, it's not that simple. A doctor can't help her now. She's . . . we have two options. You have two options. She either dies, or-"

"Or what?"

"Or she becomes like us. Like me." I hesitated for only a moment, because the words I was going to say knifed through me. Charlie turned around to look at me, wincing again with the pain. Anguish, confusion, incomprehension flashed across his face.

"A vampire." As I said it, Catherine's head moved toward my voice.

"A _whaaat_?" He drew back from my embrace, moaning with the effort it took him to do so. I knew the look I saw on his face would be forever burned in my memory, regardless of my mind's infallibility as a vampire. Fear. Real fear. Charlie was afraid of me. He looked at Carlisle with that same fear. Carlisle pretended not to see it, staring down at Catherine, torment written all over his face.

Charlie then _glanced_ back at Catherine, still clutching her weakly moving arm. He looked over her face, her body, and then bowed his head, shaking it back and forth, only stopping to return to her face, as if asking for something, an answer. I watched as a calm washed over him. Resignation.

"Do . . . whatever. I can't lose her. I . . . I won't let her die. But take me with you."

He leaned closer to her. "Catherine. If you can hear me, Bella and her family are going to help you. I'm right here. I'll . . . never let you go. I . . .

"I. . . love you," he said as his voice cracked.

Her eyes opened, searching for the voice, struggling to focus, the terror in them unmistakable.

"Catherine? . . ." The final vestiges of her strength cut him off, as she attempted to shriek. Carlisle scooped her up and disappeared so quickly, only Alice and I could hear its remnants.

Charlie searched the empty space, now void of both Catherine and Carlisle. "What the hell? Bella, where'd they go? How? . . . "

"Bella, I'm pretty sure Edward's seen everything so far. I let him know we're going back to the house. From what I can see, they're done. The rain stopped long enough for Jazz to build the fire. They're coming back to take care of everything here. They'll bring her suitcase." I looked at Alice and nodded my head.

"Charlie's gun?" I asked.

"It will burn with everything else." Alice looked at Charlie, but he drooped into my arms.

"Tell Edward one of them needs to go back to the house and get her things, especially the computer, when they're finished here." Catherine would want her things, that much I knew.

"C'mon, Dad. Alice and I've got you. We're following right behind them." In a flash, we had him supported under our arms, Alice with one arm at his shoulders and the other on his lower back, and me at his lower back and thighs, racing back to the car Emmett and Rosalie had hidden. Charlie passed out before we were even out of the cabin.

* * *

**A/N:**

*Deep breath*

What you expected? Not what you expected? Ready to flame me? Ready to kill me? Whatever it is, I humbly ask you to review.

Again, more than ever, thank you for reading.


	17. Chapter 17

If you're still with me after that last chapter, from the bottom of my heart thank you. That last chapter was...well, yeah.

I just want to take a moment to send another huge shout-out and thank you to my uber beta, Jenny Cullen, for not only her superb skills, but also for being so excited about upcoming chapters that she asked for them in advance. That, to me, was a huge compliment.

I also want to thank FrozenSoldier for the amazing banner she put together for this story. For me, it's absolutely breathtaking. If you need a banner, or just want to see her other work, you can find her in the Twinet Forums or on Twitter at FrozenSoldier. Tell her I sent you. ;)

Ok, that's enough blather from me. Now onto 17...

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Opus 90: Third Movement

Rachmaninoff, Vocalise

**CathPOV**

_Catherine. If you can hear me, Bella and her family are going to help you. I'm right here. I'll . . . never let you go. I . . . love you._

My eyes had opened, at least I think they did, and I'd tried to find the voice that had said those words to me, but I couldn't find it. I couldn't find _him._

Through the flames. Through my boiling blood and blistering skin, I could still _think_. Recall. Rationalize.

I had been . . . That monster, that _thing_. There wasn't a word for what he'd done. Torture not nearly strong enough . . . He had . . . his slow, precise, infliction of agonizing pain both outside and inside my body had snapped something, and not just physically. Broken me in two, reaching the very epicenter of my soul. All the while, Charlie forced to see . . . to watch.

_Why? Why me? What had I done to deserve?_ . . . The monster's thousands of teeth had disappeared into my neck. First warmth, then uncomfortable heat, and now fire of a million flames rushed over me,_ through_ me . . . _had I been that evil in life to warrant such punishment?_

_Charlie. _

FUCK! The _inferno_. It didn't matter anymore. I was dead. I was positive of it.

I felt myself scream - my mouth formed the shape, my vocal chords vibrated, but to my ears, it sounded like my face was covered by a pillow. The fires of hell. I now knew what it meant. Hotter than any other fire I'd ever known. And I was stuck here, for eternity. I had somehow pissed off God, Jesus, the whole lot of them. Just enough not to even let me have a chance, a chance to plead my case, a chance for absolution. All those missed masses on Sunday and holy days, all the times I'd blamed Him for taking my Dad too soon, the forgiveness I was unwilling to give to _her_, the person from my past that had destroyed all of my hopes. All of my sins were coming together now, branding my skin, as I turned over and over on a white-hot rotisserie rod that pierced through my center, the flaming red coals all around me.

I realized that I'd never see Dad again and I so hoped I would. The chance at those 18 holes we never played, or another fishing trip where the fish never stopped biting. But he couldn't be _here_ . . . not in this place.

I hoped my family was praying for me. Fire was shooting out of every pore of my body like a blow torch, my center the boiler room. Maybe somehow their prayers would lessen the burning. They probably didn't even know I was dead yet. Who would tell them? I couldn't think about what the news would do to them, my mom especially. I hadn't even had the chance to call her one last time. They would never know about . . .

_Charlie._

Sizzling, blazing . . . there weren't enough words in the English language to describe the intense heat that wouldn't diminish. That just seemed to build upon itself, licking at every inch, every cell, devouring everything in its path yet never extinguishing.

But yet somehow I was able to think. To reason. To _remember_. This was my ultimate penance.

_Charlie._

He _had _to be alive. I'd heard his voice before . . . before . . . He'd been there, in the room, with Bella. Other voices too, unidentifiable ones. Servants of Satan, like in the movie "Ghost", black shadows emerging from the dark corners, to haul my ass away in those last moments. One minute I heard Charlie's voice, the next I was flying through the air. Whoever was in charge of after-death transportation must have opened a chute or something and just sent me straight down. Straight to the pits. Do not pass Go. Do not collect eternal salvation.

_Charlie._

To just focus on his name, his voice, I would have it with me for all of time. It would be the sudden breeze that came from the far reaches of earth to cool on a hot humid day. It would be like that first jump in a pool when the summer sun was blazing. It would be a full glass of ice. No, an entire cooler full.

I'd loved him like I had no other. Charles Thomas Swan. The memory of him, of our all-too-brief time together, I would take with me. It was all I had.

_Charlie._

**BellaPOV**

I sat in Alice's arms on a settee off out of the way, as I watched Carlisle finish giving Charlie a shot of something to help with the pain, and to keep him quiet for at least a little while longer. Edward had helped initially, taping Charlie's midsection to try and immobilize the fractured rib, while Carlisle set his arm, stitched the wound on the side of his head, and put ice on his . . . Charlie had not regained consciousness since the cabin, and it was almost a relief, Carlisle reassuring me between the pain, and what he just witnessed, it was ok. Charlie's mind was on overload, and the brain needed this time to heal itself. The others were with Catherine, Rosalie undoubtedly tending to her in a fashion to which only she could. I had a brief thought that Rose would be an immense help to Catherine if and when.

If and when . . . the _when_ part was relatively inevitable. The _if _part fluctuated between what I had known Catherine to be like before, in that short afternoon we'd shared, and what she might be like _after_ . . . The emotional overload from the change was enough to test any newborn, my memories of the sights, the sounds, the scents, from when I'd awakened clear even so many years later. But I had _known _what was happening, to a point. I had been . . . prepared. But in Catherine's circumstances . . . the torture, the abuse, by a vampire, and Charlie's witness to it all. Who knew what her mental state would be _when_ . . .

There were too many variables, too many unknowns. The family needed to gather.

"Bella, let's go downstairs." Alice whispered to me, even though everyone could hear her.

"Alice, I . . ." I glanced to Edward.

"Go on, love. We'll be right down." Edward tried to hide his concern, but I saw it. I couldn't tell if he was thinking what I was thinking, or if there was something else bothering him.

As Alice and I descended the stairs in slower fashion than even human pace, the others were walking out of Catherine's room, what was once Edward's.

Emmett tried his best to reassure me. "Bella, it's like he went through a wood chipper. Jasper had such a raging bonfire going, we almost got worried someone would call the . . ."

"Emmett, thank you." I finished Emmett's sentence in my head. _Call the cops._ It suddenly occurred to me that Charlie . . . Someone had to have called the cops by now about the cabin. Word would have reached the investigation had probably already started, with none of Charlie's guys resting until they found him. Them. They hadn't called me, curiously, which only meant they would be visiting in person soon.

We took our usual spots at the table, and as I sat down, Carlisle took the head seat, Edward at the far end, to my right. Jasper and Alice were to my left, Esme taking the seat to Carlisle's left, Rose, and Emmett across from me. We all waited for Carlisle to begin, but Edward's head was bent down, as if he were lost in thought somewhere else.

"First off, I want to say to all of you how proud I am of you." I turned to my left, and Carlisle was looking at me.

"You were able to put aside your natural instincts to help . . . there was a tremendous amount of blood . . . yet you . . ." Carlisle stopped, as if almost undone by what he'd witness. "You all never cease to amaze me. I want you to know that. I know that pride is not necessarily an appropriate feeling to have right now, but I do. For all of you. It took a tremendous amount of strength to do what you all did tonight. Especially you, Rose." Carlisle's gaze turned to Rosalie, but she didn't look up, instead clutching with both of her hands the one that Emmett offered in her lap.

Carlisle turned to me. "Bella, I'm truly sorry we didn't make it in time. We had every intention of preventing Catherine's . . ."

"I know, Carlisle. Thank you all." My chest heaved as if I were going to cry, but once again, no tears. Edward's hand slid across the table from next to me, and I caught it, clutching it as if it were my only link to some form of sanity. But the expression on his face told me he had something to tell. He had yet to say if he learned anything from the vampire before they'd finished him off. We all had been preoccupied with getting Charlie settled, and Catherine . . .

"Boys, Rose, you took care of . . . what's the state of things? I'm assuming you burned the cabin?" Carlisle looked down at Edward, who was already nodding.

"The call from Tracy to Bella said that Catherine seen this guy before, and they believed him to be stalking her, so Charlie already had the police involved. We tried to make it look like either he took them both, and Charlie's truck, or . . . he killed them both and took the truck. Either way, we threw her torn shirt and Charlie's bloody jacket into the ocean, just far enough where it will wash back up. We torched the place, taking only Catherine's things. We retrieved everything from Charlie's truck and all of Catherine's things from Charlie's house as well, and pushed his truck into the depths of the Pacific." Edward answered.

"We left nothing in the cabin but Charlie's gun." Emmett offered. "And I made sure it was in the center of it all. It'll be just melted metal if they find it."

"I'm assuming you used accelerants. Those will be traceable by the police. When they don't find a body, or bodies, let's hope they make the assumptions we're counting on. Our best hope is that they believe both of them are in the Pacific Ocean. What about the handcuffs?" Carlisle asked calmly, but I still gasped.

"We took them. I have them." Jasper said, as he looked at Alice's hands, which were firmly around one of his own in her lap. "I thought Charlie might . . . want . . . what's left of them."

Carlisle paused, as if remembering . . . I thought of his father's cross that hung on the wall upstairs. "Yes, Jasper. You're probably right. We'll keep them hidden until he's ready. Which is a good segue into out next issue."

Edward squeezed my hand. "Carlisle, everyone, before we go on, I need to tell you. I saw something. A momentary vision in his head." His hesitation was enough to make Esme sharply inhale.

"It's as if he knew. About me. About us. He was trying very hard to think of anything . . . to block me. At first, all I kept getting were visions of him watching her. And then her and Charlie together. He followed them everywhere. He had some sort of talent for physically shielding himself from us. That's why we couldn't find him. But . . ." Edward paused again, looking at me. "There was a brief image of Aro."

"What?" Carlisle stood up from his chair.

"Yes. Fleeting though it was, I got the distinct impression that this . . . _thing_ knew Aro, and Aro knew him. . . . _well_."

"What else, Edward?" Carlisle sat back down.

"Nothing. It was a flash of Aro's face and then it was gone."

Emmett shifted in his chair. "Well, _that_ can't be good."

Carlisle turned to Alice. "Alice, have you been able to . . ."

"No, nothing. I've seen nothing about either of them, or the Volturi, since . . ." Alice didn't get to continue as a gasp from Edward interrupted her.

"What? What is it?" I tugged at Edward's hand.

"_Catherine_ . . . I . . . I can _hear _her. She's . . ." Edward rose so suddenly I didn't have time to think about his hand leaving mine. He walked over to the wall of windows clutching the sides of his head. "She's reliving it, wondering why her. That what she endured, what she's enduring is some sort of punishment. She thinks she's dead and burning in hell. . ."

Rosalie cried out, Emmett's arm going around her shoulders, the other, scooting her chair closer to him.

". . . burning for her sins, not seeing her father in heaven, wondering who will tell her family, her mother, that she's dead. If they'll pray for her. She keeps repeating Charlie's name, using it as some sort of comfort. His memories, _their_ memories . . . I can . . . _feel . . . _her _agony_." Edward buried his face in his hands, and I flew to him, clutching him to me, his face burying in my shoulder. I had never seen him so affected before, and it scared me. The combination of both Catherine's physical, but also the spiritual anguish. After everything Edward and I had been through, he now felt that God had some grand plan for all of us. Hearing Catherine question, and not being able to communicate with her . . . I held him like that for a few moments, while the others stayed quiet behind me.

"Oh what the poor girl must be going through!" Esme cried out.

I rubbed my hand over Edward's back, and for a millisecond thought of throwing my shield over him so I hear too. All too quickly I realized no. I didn't want to know.

"It's ok, Bella. I'm ok." His head left my shoulder, and I searched his eyes. The corners of them were crinkled and I knew he was still hearing her, but he was trying to put on a brave face.

"That was . . . way too powerful." He said to everyone at the table, his hand in mine pulling me back to sit with the others.

"Son, we can begin if you need to get away for a moment," Carlisle suggested.

"No, no. We need to . . . carry on." Edward pulled my hand that he was still holding up on the table and held it in both of his.

Esme got up from her chair, and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the top of his head. "Oh, my_ Edward_."

"Carlisle, everyone, we must consider all of the options, including what Alice and Edward have seen. Catherine is becoming one of us. We have Charlie to consider." Jasper said out loud what we all were thinking. Esme met Carlisle's glance as she retook her seat next to him.

Surprisingly, it was Alice who managed to voice what I ultimately feared. "Charlie won't leave her. No matter what. How does he go back to his life, being a cop? We burnt down the cabin, made it look like . . . How could he even pretend that she was dead, or pretend to look for her? What kind of story could we make up that had Catherine missing with Charlie escaping? They would all expect him to lead some sort-of gigantic manhunt. How could he pull that off, knowing what he knows?"

Edward sighed next to me, and I realized that once again, he might be opposed to another joining us. While I didn't know what I wanted, I knew I wanted Charlie to make the choice.

Carlisle finally spoke. "I can only think of two alternatives, neither being unproblematic. Either we turn him, or we leave as soon as Catherine . . . leaving Charlie behind. Human. But something tells me it will be very difficult to convince her to come with us . . . without him. She doesn't even know any of us, except for you, Bella."

I concentrated on Edward's face as Carlisle finished, throwing my shield over him.

_Edward, I know what you're thinking . . .  
_

_Bella, they're all . . . they want him to come with us. Rose especially. She doesn't want to see them torn apart. But Alice, too. She can't imagine not seeing him again. _ He shook his head slightly. _We can't make the decision for him. I can't do that to him. _

_I know. _

I replayed Alice's second vision, the end of it, in my head.

_But Edward, Alice saw them both in Volterra. Catherine's already . . . If we turn Charlie, that would mean . . ._

"They're not there as a meal." Everyone turned toward Edward and me as Edward spoke aloud.

"C'mon Bella, it's bad enough we have to put up with Edward." Emmett was right, and I took back my shield.

"Sorry, Em. I was thinking about the end of Alice's second vision." It was partly true.

"Yes, of course." Carlisle looked at Jasper and then at Edward. "If Catherine is already . . . and Alice hasn't seen anything new, the vision still holds. Catherine and Charlie can't be in Volterra as a meal. They're . . ."

The whip of my head and my stare stopped Carlisle before he could continue. "Carlisle, I know what you're saying. But we must let Charlie come to the decision on his own. If what Alice says is true, that he won't leave her . . ." I turned to Edward, "then he will make that choice without our interference."

"But wait." Emmett's face twisted as if it hurt to think. "That means two more Cullens. I'm sure we all remember the _last_ time we had additions to the family. Bella, they wanted you turned, but Nessie . . ."

"Emmett, the Volturi were here because they'd thought we'd turned a child. This . . . this is different. And Charlie . . ." Carlisle again looked at me. ". . . _if_ Charlie decides to join us . . .

"Let's not forget the treaty, either. We're not responsible for Catherine, but if Charlie decides . . . One of us needs to speak to Jacob." Jasper glanced at Edward as he said it.

I watched as Carlisle grabbed Esme's hand. "Edward will speak to Jacob, right Edward?"

"Yes, I'll handle the Quileute and Jacob." Edward replied dutifully.

Carlisle continued, "But Edward, this vision of Aro. If there's any relationship at all between the two of them . . ."

"It could possibly mean that he was sent here. On purpose." Jasper's gaze went from Carlisle, down the table to Edward.

Edward didn't look up, but his eyes bore through the mahogany in front of him. "Yes. What we need to figure out is . . . _why_."

"If he was sent, they'll be wondering what happened to him, won't they?" Emmett directed his question towards Carlisle.

"I would think so." Carlisle answered ominously.

Rose's head lifted from where it had been resting against Emmett's chest. "Edward, you said yourself he seemed to be after Catherine and not necessarily Charlie. What interest would the Volturi have in a human that has no connection to us? At least no connection until she met Charlie a few days ago?"

Jasper slapped his palm on the table, "_That_ is what we need to find out."

"Alice, you will let us know if you see anything?" Carlisle asked.

"Immediately." Alice's stare at the top of the dining room table made me think she was already trying.

It was Carlisle's turn for a deep sigh. "Ok. Right now, our main goal is to help Catherine and Charlie. We have to see both of them through this before we can concentrate on the why. As long as Alice doesn't see the Volturi, as long as she doesn't see them coming, then we have time. Catherine may be . . . difficult when she wakes up. And until Charlie decides . . . we have to protect him."

I had been absorbing the conversation flying around me as much as I could, but all I could think of was one question. "But Alice, if he was sent by Aro, why didn't you see him coming?" I felt guilty just asking it.

The silence around the table was nearly overwhelming, and I was sure Jasper was being inundated with anxiety from all of us.

"I . . . I don't know." Alice finally answered. We all sat completely still, the affect of Alice's simple reply like a blanket of doubt.

As if all hearing at precisely the same moment, our heads collectively looked up and around at each other. Tires on the main road turning into our drive meant only one thing.

It was Carlisle who spoke first. "Bella, you and Edward go meet them, Esme and I will go to Charlie. The rest of you go to Catherine…"

Carlisle didn't finish as Catherine's scream was heard by all of us. Rosalie was the first out of her chair and up the stairs.

Alice was gone, and then back again at the side of my chair. "Bella. Contacts." And she flipped me two. I stared down at them, feeling like my hands should be shaking but they weren't. I plopped both of them in, giving them and myself and my eyes minute to adjust.

"Edward?" I wasn't sure I could do this.

"Let's go meet them outside, Bella." Edward grabbed my hand and ushered me to the door. I opened it just as the squad car pulled up, Larson and Jones getting out as if weighed down by bricks. Edward and I met them on the driveway.

I looked between the two of them, their hesitancy to speak almost as palpable as my own. I tried to remember all of the times that I had seen or heard of the reactions of people to cops showing up on their doorstep, the times that Charlie had told me about where he had to deliver bad news to someone he knew.

"What? What is it?" I pretended to search their faces as if I didn't know what they were going to say.

"Bella." Larson began but stopped, glancing over at Jones. "Bella, I'm so sorry, but…but something has happened to Charlie. We're still trying to—"

"Whaaat?" The surprise in my voice wasn't altogether fake as I felt Edward's arm go around my waist. "Tell me," I said, looking pointedly at Larson.

"There's been a fire at Catherine's cabin. Tracy said she told you how they were going to be there today. She said she told you about what's been going on with Catherine and whoever harassed her. Bella, it…the fire, it looks deliberate. Charlie's truck is missing, and there's no sign of either of them."

The gasp that erupted from me was real, as I listened to Larson. "Were they…are they…?" It seemed like the natural question to ask, even though I already knew the answer.

"The fire was, uh, bad, Bella," Jones added.

"So you don't know… or you haven't found evidence that they…were in it?" I tried to make my voice quaver, sound even hopeful.

Jones glanced at Larson, who then looked at me. "All that they've found so far is a hunk of metal, which they think might be Charlie's gun. Until they test it…"

I leaned into Edward as if believing the worst, as if I were going to pass out, and Edward caught me on cue.

"Bella, did Charlie say anything about leaving town, about taking Catherine away? Anything at all that would indicate that they weren't in that cabin." Larson stepped toward me, the look of hope for his friend the Chief unmistakable.

I just shook my head at first, appearing as if I couldn't speak, couldn't fathom. "No, nothing. But he would've told…" I let my unfinished sentence hang, my intention to push them to the conclusion that we all wanted them to make.

Larson looked over at Jones. Something in the moment made me think that this very scene could have happened to me, might have been real if I had never met Edward. If I had never known the Cullens. As if Edward knew what I was thinking, his arms held me tighter in support.

"Call us if you hear from him. We won't rest until we find out what happened to them, Bella. None of us will." I could feel Jones' gaze on me as I stared at the pavement. I wanted to seem dazed, confused by all of it, and frankly, it wasn't that hard to fake it.

"Yes. Yes I will." I replied absentmindedly.

"Detectives, please let us know if there's anything we can do." Edward added.

We both watched as they got in their car, and sped back down the drive, Edward supporting me still. I turned in his arms, and pressed my cheek to his chest.

"So, how'd I do?" I mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.

"Love, that performance was so spot on, you had me believing you were going to faint in my arms at any moment." Edward whispered into my hair.

**CharliePOV**

_Char . . . lie . . . noooo_

Her face before . . . Her blood, dripping from his mouth . . .

_It was like he was wearing a cup or something – a cup made out of stone._

_Except for the way . . . when he touched me. His hand was cold._

Stone.

Cold.

My whole body jerked and the pain in my arm shot up through my shoulder and into my head, even more than the pain in my side.

"Catherine." I heard somebody say her name, and then realized it was me. A hand touched my arm, and I yanked it away. My eyes didn't want to open, my eyelids felt taped shut. Something cold covered my . . .

But then that hand rubbed my arm again. "Dad? Dad, it's ok. It's Bella." I blinked once, twice, managing to push my eyes open, and then I saw her. For a split second, I remembered being afraid of her, of what she had said . . . but then I looked at her face like I was seeing her for the first time. My Bells.

But her eyes. They were light golden, just like . . .

"Bella, where is she?" I tried to sit up, but the stabbing pain shot through me like a bullet. It was damn near impossible to move anyway, as I noticed my right arm in a cast and my gut taped up like a mummy. Someone's gentle push on my shoulder didn't help either.

"Dad, please calm down. She's . . . she's in the other room." Bella's eyes dropped down, as if she didn't want to look at me, or she didn't want me to look at her. I didn't know which. I looked around the room, and saw Edward at the foot of the bed, and Carlisle on the other side of me. This wasn't the hospital, nor was it my house.

"Where am I?" I tried to see beyond, but nothing looked familiar.

"You're at the Cullen's. In Carlisle's and Esme's bedroom." Bella said, still keeping her head down.

"How long have I been? . . ."

"About 17 hours, Charlie. I had to keep you sedated for awhile." My head darted to Carlisle sitting next to me.

I dropped my head back down to the pillow underneath it and suddenly I saw it all, again. Catherine lying on the bed . . . what he did to her . . . the blood.

"Tell me he's dead. Tell me he's in a million pieces scattered all over the Pacific Ocean." I panted out.

"Very near that, Chief Swan." Edward sounded . . . sure. I lifted my head to look directly at him, trying to read him, trying to determine if . . . , and dropped it back down. My gut told me he wasn't lying.

"I wasn't supposed to hear that." I said to the ceiling.

No one answered me. But, I didn't care. I lifted my head back up to once again stare straight at Edward. "Edward, um…thanks." Again my head went back to the pillow, my eyes closing. _Damn, I was so weak._

"Our pleasure, sir. " Edward said it like they had . . . taken care of him. But he . . . it wasn't . . . _how'd they? . . ._ Hell, he'd broken my arm with a squeeze of his hand. What he'd done to Catherine . . .

My eyes flew open again. "Wait a minute." One of the last things I remembered Bella saying was that Catherine was becoming . . . like_ them_. A _vampire_.

I struggled to sit up, but Bella had two pillows behind my back and somehow had lifted me up without hurting my rib to get them there. I stared at her next to me. It was as if she hadn't moved, and yet I knew she had. I reached under the covers with my good hand and took the once-was ice pack off me even though my balls were still slightly throbbing.

"I'll take that." Carlisle said, so I handed him now liquefied pack.

"Dad, we need to talk." Bella looked at me now, and again I saw the light golden eyes. The psycho had those same eyes. I noticed her voice. The same, but . . . different.

"You're damn right we need to." I went to reach out to her, accidentally moving my right hand, forgetting about the broken arm. Shit, the thing hurt.

"Charlie, try not to move. You're going to upset the stitches, not the mention the rib that Edward so expertly taped. I'm going to go get some more pain medicine. Edward?" Carlisle's professional doctor voice. I'd heard it before.

"We're fine here, Carlisle. Thank you." Carlisle got up from the bed, and started toward the door, but stopped to glance back at Edward. I thought I saw Edward nod his head, but then he came to sit next to me where Carlisle had been.

I'd had enough of the tip-toeing. "Alright. One of you start talking. The need-to-know shit is over." I looked back and forth at each of them. Edward couldn't look at me.

"Chief, we made it look like there was a fire. You and Catherine are presumed missing at this point," Edward said, his head still down.

_Fire? Jesus, my guys must be going nuts…_ "Wait. What?" I glanced at them both.

"Dad, what do you remember . . . from before . . . from the cabin?" Bella asked.

_As long as you don't kill him, as long as . . ._

"I remember everything, Bella." I looked down at my half-casted arm, thinking it was nothing compared to what Catherine went through. The man, the thing, had tortured her. And then . . .

_Do you like my touch, Catherine? How does it feel to be _my_ whore, Catherine?_

"I will never forget it." I mumbled. She had . . . let him . . . for _me_. She had submitted to a monster to save my sorry ass. "What he did to her. It was . . ." I couldn't finish. I couldn't tell Bella.

"We know, Dad. Alice . . . _saw_. We tried to get there before . . ." Bella looked down at the bed again.

"What do you mean, Alice _saw_?" Alice wasn't there, at least not during . . .

"Dad, we'll talk about that later. Right now, we need to talk about you . . . and Catherine." Bella glanced at Edward again, as if he were coaching her from the sidelines.

"You said at the cabin that she was gonna be like _you_, right? That means _alive_, right?" I stared at Bella, almost begging her. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to look at Edward. Bella still seemed like Bella to me, except for her eyes, her voice, her skin. I'd noticed it before, but the need-to-know thing had kept me . . . _How could I have not figured it out?_

_Duh, Charlie_. Because in the real world, the world that was just pulled out from under me like a used-up old rug, vampiresdidn't _exist_. Sue had never said the word _vampire_. I would have thought she was 5 cans short of a six-pack. Maybe.

I let my head fall back, physically incapable of holding it up. This meant . . . this meant my daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter most likely, were vampires. My best friend's son turned into a gigantic wolf. Catherine's cabin was burning, burned, and my guys were no doubt leaving no stone unturned looking for me. My head started to spin.

"Dad . . ."

"You both are . . . all of you are . . . Nessie?" But Nessie had brown eyes, _Bella's_ eyes.

"We'll discuss her later, Dad. She's a _special _situation." Bella took my hand again.

_Special? What the hell did that mean? _

"Chief . . ."

"Edward, just call me Charlie, ok?" I sighed.

"Yessir. I mean Charlie." Now it was his turn to sigh. He ran his hand through his hair, most likely trying to decide if he was comfortable with our new informality. I would've laughed if my head weren't so messed up.

"Charlie, I know it's a lot to process. We'll explain everything soon. But there's much we need to discuss now. About what happened. About Catherine . . . and you. Do you remember anything that he said, anything that he did, that might tell us anything?" I peeled my gaze away from Edward and closed my eyes again.

I was suddenly feeling much like a witness and not like the cop, Edward saying exactly what I would have said to me. Even though my brain wanted to turn off, I went over the entire nightmare, starting from when he just appeared in Catherine's cabin.

"He . . . he just appeared. Catherine had been looking out the patio doors when I came out of the shower . . . She was…staring at something out the window. I…I should've known." I sighed and shook my head.

"She must have spotted him outside. I don't know how he got in, the door was locked—well, I guess I can figure that out now." My body tensed as I remembered the panic on her face, how she had been out of my reach . . .

"The idiot tried to introduce himself. He was . . . insane." The way he spoke. "He had an accent."

"An accent?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, I don't know from where though. He said he was . . . waiting for us. I tried to arrest him, not knowing . . ." I felt Bella's hand rubbing my good arm again.

"He got my phone and my gun . . ." No one had ever gotten my gun, at least not any real . . . any living . . . any _human_.

_You see, Chief Swan, my initial mission was only for the woman._

"He said he was on a mission, an _elite _mission. Only for Catherine, but then I . . ." Had I done this to her? If I hadn't stopped that day on the side of the road, if I hadn't met her . . .

Bella grabbed my hand in both of hers. They were cold, stone cold, just like . . . "What, Dad?"

"He said I interfered." My head drifted back on the pillow as I squeezed my eyes shut.

_She is quite the whore, and she will pay dearly for it. You see, my orders are not to kill you, Chief Swan. _

_You, I am forbidden to kill. _

_I must fulfill my destiny and terminate hers._

"He called her . . . a _whore_." I nearly whispered the word, hesitating to say it, trying not to think about what Catherine might have felt hearing it. "He said that his orders were not to kill me. That he was _forbidden_ to kill me. He was going to 'fufill his destiny and terminate hers'."

I opened my eyes to see Edward staring at Bella. Something told me I had just said a key piece of information. "What? What is it, Edward?"

"We . . . I have to talk to Carlisle and Jasper. Is there anything else?" Edward's attention returned to me.

"Other than him handcuffing me with my own cuffs, breaking my arm with one hand, and . . ." the memory of Catherine laying beneath him, of what he had done . . . "No."

Edward got up from the bed and started to pace. "Edward, you said something about Catherine . . . and me. What? What else is there?"

He stopped midway between the bed and the door and turned back to me. "Carlisle . . . he saved Catherine from death . . . but she's . . . she's changing, Charlie. Do you understand what I'm saying? In a few days, she will be like us, and you . . . you will not be. We're going to have to take her with us. Away from here. She won't be able to see you . . . at least not for a long time."

"What? Wait. Why?" I looked from Edward to Bella and back again.

"Because newborns are terribly unstable, Dad. Unpredictable. Very strong. And very dangerous to humans." Bella added.

"Newborns?" I was pretty sure we weren't talking about babies.

"New vampires." Bella looked over at Edward.

"STOP!" I yelled, cringing as the rib pain shot into my back. "Just . . . stop for a minute." Catherine was in another room somewhere, turning into a vampire. I would never see her again. _No. No way._

"Take me to see her." I commanded looking at Bella.

"Dad . . ."

"I WANT TO SEE HER! NOW!" The biting pain in my side and between my legs ignored, as the door suddenly flew open, and Jasper stood there.

"Everythin' alright?" Suddenly, my body felt . . . like a bowl of Jello. But I wanted to see her. I wanted to be pissed. But I just couldn't. Had someone given me more pain meds?

"Yes, Jasper. Thanks for the help." Edward didn't even turn around to the door.

"No problem." Jasper hesitated before leaving, looking at Edward, but Edward didn't look up.

"I know. I heard her." Edward said, his eyes on the bed. _Heard who?_

Bella's head whipped to Edward, staring at him for what seemed like forever. It's like they were having some sort of conversation without me being able to hear it.

I wasn't above begging at this point, begging my son-in-law. "Edward, something tells me you know what I'm going through. Just . . . let me see her. I need to . . . you understand, don't you?" I waited half a minute. "Please." If you would have told me a week ago I'd be doing that, I'd have said you were nuts.

The radio silence continued for at least another minute, but it felt like twenty.

"Bella." Edward simply said. Finally, someone with a word out loud.

"Edward, I could hear _you_." The door slamming and the empty place next to me clued me in that Edward had just left.

"Bella, what's going on?" I felt like I was going insane.

Dad, Edward can sort-of . . . um . . . read minds. Just about everyone's but mine . . . and yours. He can hear Catherine even now, calling for you. But apparently she's also trying to say it out loud." Her hand flew to my chest, probably thinking I was going to shoot off the bed.

I tried again to swallow it all. Alice _saw_, whatever the hell that meant. Edward could read minds, except Bella's and mine. The love of my life was in another room becoming a vampire. My daughter, sitting next to me already was one, as was the rest of her family.

_Had someone spiked my drink? Had I accidentally been stuck with some drug I couldn't remember? Had I drunk the Kool-Aid?_

I started with the first question. "Bella, when you said Alice _saw_, what does that . . . mean exactly?"

Bella took my hand in hers, patting it with the other. Another shot of need-to-know antidote coming. "Alice can see the future. She had a vision, two actually, of what was going to happen."

"Whaaat? Why didn't you tell . . . ?" I stopped and remembered that day, in front of our house, Bella saying . . . "That's what you were trying to tell me, after lunch that day, before you left. _The family_. You were all trying to protect us . . . _her_."

Bella's huge sigh told me yes before she did.

"Aw, geez, Bells. You should've _told_ me." I said, looking up at the ceiling.

"I _couldn't_ tell you, Dad. Because telling you would have revealed . . . Telling you would've gotten you killed. We knew what he was, and we thought we could stop him before . . . We just couldn't _find_ him. He had some sort of talent . . . ability . . . that kept us from seeing him, even being able to pick up his scent. I'm sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry." Bella hung her head as if she were going to cry, but I didn't see any tears.

They'd all known. Alice had . . . Alice could _see_ the . . . If they'd just told me, or if I'd just told _them_. But I didn't _know._ How could I have imagined the guy was not just a typical stalker, but an actual _vampire_?

Alice _saw_. My mind spun with the revelation. If she could see the future, I wondered if Alice could tell_ me_ . . . I needed to talk to Alice. But it didn't matter right now. That would have to wait. I could feel the guilt coming off Bella in waves. "Bells, hey. It's ok. You got there. You saved her when I couldn't. If you all wouldn't have come, we'd both be dead."

"But we didn't get there in time to . . . to keep her human." I took my good hand from hers, and pushed her hair from her face and around her ear. She still didn't look at me and I didn't know what to say to her. Mostly because I didn't know what it meant – that Catherine wouldn't be _human_. I mean I did, at least I _thought _I did . . .

Something told me I had a lot to learn in a short amount of time. But I had to see her. First.

"Bells, can you help me? Walk, I mean? Take me to her?" Just then, the door opened, and Edward stood in it.

"Bella, I think it's ok. We'll all be there, just in case." Edward walked over to the bed. "Charlie, it's only the beginning, so everything should be fine. But I have to warn you, you're not going to like what you see. The venom, it burns . . . like fire through your veins. Catherine is . . . well she's moving around a lot. So Emmett and Rosalie are taking turns with Jasper and Alice to hold her down. We're hoping that if you can talk to her, if she can hear you, it might help her."

Edward looked me straight in the eye. Again, I tried to read him, to understand. I'd always thought he was a little . . . off. But for some reason, what he'd just said . . . the fact that he was straight with me suddenly made me think otherwise. He and I were going to have a talk. Alone. Soon.

_But if he could . . ._ "Bella said you can hear her? What is she . . . is she ok?" Please let her be ok.

"She's calling for you. Saying your name over and over. She doesn't know what's happening to her. She thinks she's dead. She thinks she's burning . . . in hell." Edward stared out over the bed and out the window as he told me.

_In hell? O my . ._ . "Take me to her. Now." I started to get up, not caring about the fucking pain I was in. I couldn't imagine what she was going through. Bella's arm was around my back before I could even flinch, helping me from the bed, while Edward supported my shoulders, his one arm replacing Bella's arms when I stood up.

"Whoa." Legs. A little wobbly.

"Don't worry, sir. I've got you." Edward's arm around my hips caught me. Suddenly Bella appeared at my side draping my good arm over her shoulders.

"Dad, I'm going to carry you. There's no way you can walk, what with . . ." her head ducked down to indicate to me she knew about the condition of Charlie, Jr. My daughter was going to carry me. I almost wished someone had a camera . . . Suddenly Bella had me in her arms, lifting me as if I weighed nothing at all, being careful of my rib and everything else that was bruised and broken. I was the child now, and not the father.

_Superpowers. Great._ I was going to have to get used to that.

As we were walking out the door, I turned to Edward, "Do me a favor?"

"Sure, Charlie." he said.

"Find her iPhone. It was in her purse."

* * *

**A/N:**

A big, big thank you to all of you who have stuck with this story, and me, this far. Thank you for all of the positive feedback as well. As I've seen other authors say before, your comments do help keep me going, writing, etc.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N:

We arrive at Charlie's first glimpse of Catherine.

Oh, and I don't own anything Twililght. Duh.

But I'd like to think I own a very special piece of my beta, Jenny Cullen, who is simply the best. Or maybe it's she owns _me_...

Oh, and just a teensy-weensy bit of self-promo: I have a new fic up here called "I Will Love You". It's for the "Pop My Cherry" contest being run by Twific Contests and their blog. If you have the time, maybe could you read it and leave me some love? The contest ends tomorrow, and you'd have my undying love. ;)

I'll shut-up now...

* * *

**Chapter 18**

Chopin, Prelude In e Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 (transcribed for Piano Trio)

**CharliePOV**

Bella brought me down a long hall, heading toward the room at the far end. I was already exhausted by the time we reached the door, and I hadn't even done the heavy lifting, but I wasn't going to tell any of them. Bella turned the doorknob, putting me on my feet, and I gingerly walked forward through it. Catherine was lying on the bed, Emmett and Rosalie holding her shoulders and arms, Carlisle and Esme standing at her feet. Alice was in Jasper's arms off in the corner. Catherine's upper body was twisting and bucking, as if being shot through by electric currents.

Through clenched teeth, she screamed, followed by heart-wrenching wails. I nearly dropped to my knees, her cries shooting through my soul, but Bella stopped me from hitting the floor. A flashback of her body underneath him, and all of the blood . . . Someone had taken the time to wash it all away. She had some sort of shirt on, a long pink shirt. Someone had also figured out her love of pink.

"Bells?" Bella helped me forward, starting to move almost before I'd even said her name. Rosalie got up from her spot at the head of the bed, letting go of Catherine's arm, and it swung out, nearly hitting me as I slowly sat down. Rosalie knelt next to me on the floor, grabbing Catherine's twitching arm and putting it back at her side, holding it down again.

"Catherine? Baby? It's me. It's Charlie."

I touched her shoulder, and then ran the backs of my fingers down her cheek. The other one had a long cut across it. The bruising around her mouth was red, purple, and green, with small cuts all over her lips. But it was the gash along her neck... No, it wasn't a _gash_. I could just make out two half circles before the skin mangled and buckled. This was where he'd taken his first bite. I stretched her shirt off her shoulder and lifted it up, knowing what I'd find there, but having to see it with my own eyes. Another bite mark, just above her left breast, not as big as the one on her neck, but just as gruesome. I knew the others, the one on her stomach and the one on her thigh, would look the same.

I righted her shirt and looked at her face. It was just as twisted and contorted as the rest of her was; her eyes squeezed shut, her cries growing louder again. What she had gone through, what she was going through, for me, and all I could do was shake my head back and forth. I couldn't help it, even when I felt something wet sliding down my face.

I reached out to touch her hair, her beautiful curls matted damp, someone had cleaned off the . . . I ran my hand over them, and then back to her forehead. All the while, her upper body jerked against the hold that Emmett and Rosalie had on her. The pain of my arm, my rib, my balls, my head were all nothing now compared to the pain in my chest.

It was just like when Renee left. No, even more.

"Charlie, know this. All of her injuries, all of her physical ones, will heal with the venom." I glanced down to her legs, noticing the movement that hadn't been there before . . . and why Carlisle and Esme were now holding her feet.

_Her physical injuries will heal . . . _

"How long . . . will she be like this?" I tossed the question out to anyone in the room.

Carlisle answered. "We don't know. On average, three days. But Catherine's situation is . . . unique."

"Unique?" No one spoke. "Somebody tell me what the hell . . ." I gasped as a rib pain shot to my back.

"She has a tremendous amount of venom in her from . . . him. What she endured before he . . . We don't know how long it will take for it to travel her system. We also don't know what she'll be like when it's . . . when she's finished transforming."

"I don't understand." I turned to look Carlisle in the eye.

Although it was close to his "doctor" expression, there was something else as he dropped his head for a second and then brought his face back up to mine. "Given what she's gone through, I'm unsure of her . . . mental state when she finally does awaken. We just don't know, Charlie. I'm sorry. But we're all here to help her."

My eyes left Carlisle, wandering slowly up her legs, which were twitching more, over her soft body that not thirty-six hours ago was in my arms, that had made me feel like I hadn't felt in ages, to those lips that had traveled nearly every inch of my skin, to her beaten and bruised face, that beautiful face that had wrenched from me even in those first moments on the side of a highway my complete and absolute protection.

_Catherine._ _I will never forgive myself for . . . this._

"Dad, talk to her. It might help her if she's hears your voice," Bella said from behind me, her arms underneath mine, still supporting me.

At this point, I was willing to try anything, so I ran my fingers over her shoulder and down her arm. "Catherine? I'm here. I'm right beside you, baby. And I'm not leaving." Just as I said those last words, instead of her arms flailing, they merely shuddered, but her legs were still.

"Keep talking to her, Charlie. She _must _be hearing you." Esme's hope was all I needed to hear.

"Catherine? Catherine? Can you hear me?" I gently rubbed my hand up and down her arm, her soft skin still feeling . . . and then I saw it. The fingers on her hand slowly started to spread, her hand quivering as if it took everything she had to force them open. _Did she know it was me?_ Rosalie let her arm go, and I reached out to grab her hand. If my touch could give her any sort of comfort . . .

Edward suddenly appeared at my side, holding out her iPhone. "Just find a song . . . anything. She's got a mix on there she's been playing. But I don't know what it's called." I sounded as if I was talking to my guys at the station.

"Edward, give it to me." Alice walked from where she had been next to Jasper, her hand outstretched.

He must have hesitated. "Just give it to me, Edward," Alice repeated, her hand impatiently jutting towards Edward.

Over seventeen hundred songs, but they were all hers. I didn't know why it was so important to get her music on. I just knew it was. That it would_ help_. Anything Alice picked she would know. She _had_ to.

I leaned in to kiss her cheek, Bella's hands supporting me, and felt the stabbing pain of my rib. But I didn't care. I let my lips linger, holding my breath as long as I could, before Bella pulled me upright again. The song Alice picked started to play, and Catherine seemed to respond. Her body stopped twisting, but her muscles were tensed tighter than a bow string. The song . . . the _words_ . . .

"Alice, what is this?" I asked, looking over to where she was now standing, next to Esme.

"One I know. I just thought it might be . . . appropriate. It's called, _If You're Not the One_."

I'd never heard it before, but I didn't care. "Catherine, listen." I felt Bella's fingers press into my chest, and her head rest on my shoulder.

"She can hear it, Charlie," Edward said from somewhere behind me.

I felt her fingers flex, digging into the back of my hand. "I think . . . I think she just squeezed my hand." I heard a gasp from what I thought was Esme.

"Yes, baby. Never let me go. Promise."

From somewhere behind me, the bedroom door closed. I looked up to now see Alice across from me, and Emmett at Catherine's feet. Edward, Carlisle, and Jasper, and had left the room.

**CathPOV**

It was exactly like a cool breeze on my cheek, lessening the burning for a half a second. But to me, it was like an hour.

"Catherine? Baby? It's me. It's Charlie."

Was that? . . .

More voices. Little bits and pieces of . . .

_Poor Charlie._ . . _. He shouldn't be in here_. . . . _What are we gonna do when he decides to . . ._

Where were they coming from? Were there others here? With me? Burning too?

"Catherine? I'm here. I'm right beside you, honey. And I'm not leaving."

I'm hallucinating. I'm remembering . . . something . . . from before.

_If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today?  
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?  
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call?__  
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all?_

_Music_. That song...it was...on my phone. One of my favorites. Oh, Mr. Satan, you sure knew how to twist the knife, even now. You're roasting me up to be tonight's feast, and yet you still . . .

_I don't wanna run away but I can't take it, I don't understand_  
_If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?  
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?_

Where was it coming from? Why _that_ song?

_I don't know why you're so far away  
But I know that this much is true  
We'll make it through  
__And I hope you are the one I share my life with  
And I wish that you could be the one I die with  
And I pray in you're the one I build my home with  
I hope I love you all my life_

My heart shattered into a million pieces, but even the pieces kept burning. A coolness traveled down my arm, but I wasn't sure if I'd actually felt it. I remembered the feel of Charlie's hand in mine. How it had kept me calm, sane, those too few times. I tried to feel the rough skin, its ability to engulf my so-much-smaller hand. It was almost as if it were there. I held onto it for dear life, even though my life was gone, knowing it was just another one of the devil's deceptions.

_It _is_ his hand, Catherine. _

A voice. Whose voice was that? Satan? Was that in my head? How could . . . what was_ happening_?

"Yes, baby. Never let me go. Promise."

Charlie. Charlie was near. That was unmistakably Charlie's voice.

**BellaPOV**

I left Catherine's room, Charlie still by her side, with Emmett, Rose, Esme, and Alice tending to both of them. Edward wanted to go over with Carlisle and Jasper what Charlie had remembered, and I felt it necessary to be a part of the discussion. This was _my_ Dad, after all. If there was any evidence, any indication, that Aro had been involved, even indirectly . . .

"An elite mission . . . to eliminate Catherine, but not to harm Charlie. That _sounds_ like he was sent. But we still don't know if Aro sent him." Carlisle was speaking as I joined the three of them. Edward held his hand out to me, gesturing me to his side.

"Yes, but why? Even if it were Aro, why would he send a very talented vampire against a defenseless human like Catherine?" Jasper asked.

"Good question. But since we couldn't _see_ this vampire, maybe that was the reason. So that we wouldn't be involved, so that we wouldn't be aware of his presence," Carlisle answered.

"Why not kill her elsewhere? She's not from Forks. Why wait until she's here?" Edward pressed.

Carlisle thought for a moment, and then turned to sit in his chair. "Maybe that's all the information he had. Aro had a seer of the future, an Oracle, that he once relied upon, but something tells me its reliability has come into question since I was there. I think it's the one reason he wants Alice to join him so badly."

I pulled Edward toward the couch, wanting once again to be wrapped in the comfort of his arms. Jasper turned to sit across from Carlisle, his pained expression not hiding what he thought of that possibility. "What did it miss?"

Carlisle's eyes bore a hole in the coffee table. "Think about it for a moment."

_What could an Oracle miss?_ By very definition, nothing.

"Bella, Renesmee, and the wolves." Edward's head nodded as he brought his hand up to rub his chin.

Jasper's head flew toward Edward and the revelation. "Yes. Aro wouldn't have wasted the trip if he knew he would leave . . . empty handed."

Edward nodded his head in response. "So why the sudden reliance?"

Carlisle's attention returned to Edward. "The only likely possibility is that it foretold something that scared Aro into taking action. Something that involved Catherine. _If_ it's actually Aro that sent him. We don't even know that for sure."

"But Carlisle, the coincidence is uncanny. My seeing him in his mind . . ."

"Yes, Edward, but that could mean anything. He may have visited Volterra, or he may have met Aro at one point or another."

"But why isn't Alice seeing any of this?" Jasper moved forward in his seat.

"The only reason I can imagine is that Alice's power has always been encumbered by Renesmee and the wolves' presence, and frankly, they're always around nowadays."

Edward shifted next to me, and I looked up, seeing his jaw flexing. "But . . . his ability to keep me out was . . . _almost_ thorough. He wouldn't have known to attempt that if . . . What if they've taken what they learned from their last visit, and are perfecting ways to block me out?"

**CharliePOV**

I sat with her for I don't know how long. The others had left, and I assumed it was to give me time . . . time alone with Catherine. Well, as alone as I was with Edward and Bella with me. Catherine's body was wound tight again, but an occasional arm or leg spasm had Bella sitting across from me holding her limbs.

Carlisle had been right. I wouldn't have believed unless I'd seen it myself, but I watched as the bruises around her mouth faded, the gash on her cheek nearly unrecognizable, the bite mark on her neck a shadow of what it had been.

I wrapped my hand around her small one, now clenched in a fist. Edward had warned me about her building strength, and that it might not be a good idea for me to hold it much longer, since she might accidentally crush it. I didn't tell him that one more broken bone really wasn't going to make a fuck of a difference at this point. The only time I ever let it go was to find music to play for her, certain songs which I thought she'd like. It was amazing the amount of music she had on this thing; only half of it I could appreciate. But when Edward showed me how to find her playlists, the one called "C & C" had been like a punch in the gut.

"Dad, you have to rest . . ." Bella begged from across the bed.

"No, I'm staying here. I don't care if she kills me when she . . . when she . . . I'm not leaving."

"But _she'll_ care, Charlie," Edward said.

_Dammit if he wasn't right. But . . ._

"Edward? Can I ask you something?" I had to know.

"You can ask me anything, Charlie," Edward replied from somewhere behind me.

"Before when . . . when I talked to her. Did she hear me? What was she thinking?" Edward had moved back to the foot of the bed again, and as I looked at him, he walked away towards the window.

"Yes, I think so. Your touch brought a temporary coolness to her. She . . . she thought she was . . . hallucinating. She thinks it's the devil playing tricks on her. Some sort of penance for past sins." He didn't look at me as he described what he'd seen. It was only a hunch, but something made me think this was almost as hard on him as it was on me.

"Edward, how come you can hear _her_, but not me and Bella?" I looked at Bella across from me, her face focused on Catherine, holding her arm and legs. I still held her hand, but it was all I could do to keep it still.

"I've always been able to hear everyone. Everyone but Bella. She's completely silent to me. With you, I've been able to pick up the emotion behind your thoughts, just not the actual words. With Catherine, it's very strange, but I can hear her more clearly than anyone I've previously . . . witnessed." He hesitated slightly. "She's drawing strength from you, Charlie, from your memories together."

I had the urge to lean over to kiss her, but without Bella's arms supporting me, I knew I could only make it half way down. So instead, I ran my hand again across her forehead, down her cheek, my fingers over her lips. But I _so _wanted to kiss her.

"Dad, you need to eat something. I'm going to go get you a sandwich." She was gone before I could tell her to stay put. I got the feeling that Edward wanted to talk, Bella's quick departure just an excuse to leave me and Edward alone. A father and son-in-law chat. The last twenty-four hours had too many firsts for me to handle.

"Edward, I know you're going to tell me a hundred reasons why I should leave." I tried to let him know he was wasting his time.

"No, sir. I wanted to tell you I understand what you're going through. Somewhat. Watching Catherine lying here and . . . waiting. I did the same thing years ago, not wanting to leave Bella's side, even to . . . But with her it was different. She didn't move, didn't cry out. Carlisle had attempted to alleviate some of the effects with morphine. We know now that it didn't work. Bella eventually informed Carlisle that she could feel everything. All the morphine did was paralyze her, although she stayed still for me, fighting the pain, the urge to move, to lessen my . . ."

"Yes, I could see Bella doing that," I sighed. "Holding everything in so no one sees her . . . pain." I tried to imagine Bella lying here, like Catherine was now. Part of me was glad I hadn't known, hadn't seen her like this.

"At least she'd made the choice. But I didn't want her to . . . to become like me. She wanted this, and she's just so stubborn. But it became necessary . . ."

"Necessary?"

"Yes. The birth of Renesmee. It nearly killed her. Bella loved her from that first moment that we knew. We rushed home from our honeymoon because . . ."

"Edward, you . . . I really don't need to . . ."

"You _must_ know, Charlie. Please. And I can finally tell you." Edward now sat across from me on the bed, holding onto Catherine. When and how he'd moved, I didn't know.

"I'm sorry, for deceiving you, or what feels like deceiving you, for so long. But know this, I love your daughter, sir. She has given my long and empty life meaning. Until I met Bella, my life, my existence, as this . . . well, it was quite bleak. She helped me see things, understand things, that no book on earth could. She was still human when she became pregnant with Nessie. Carrying a child . . . a child that was half like us . . . and half human . . . even Carlisle didn't know the outcome. She nearly died. She would have if I hadn't . . ."

I looked up to see him staring down at the bed, as if he were remembering. "So Nessie . . . she really is . . . part you and part Bella? Not some long lost niece?"

"Yes, sir," he sighed, still staring at the bed.

"So you did it?" I asked, and that brought his eyes up to mine. "I mean, you made her . . . you _bit_ . . ."

"Yes. It was my . . . my venom that saved her. It will heal Catherine's body, her broken pelvis, the . . . internal damage. It already has." My eyes ran over Catherine's body as I swallowed what Edward had just said. That . . . that _asshole_ had broken her . . . he'd _broken_ her . . . the venom would heal the physical, but what about . . . I glanced at my arm and the cast around it. The venom would _heal_ . . .

"Charlie, I know it's a lot of information, and there's much more for you to know. But for right now, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for allowing me Bella. I wouldn't be alive, or whatever I am, if it weren't for her."

I looked at my son-in-law for what seemed like the very first time. It was hard to admit, but I realized the kid _actually loved _my daughter. Well, he wasn't actually a _kid_. I wondered if he was as old as Jasper. He'd braved me, and all this other bullshit, to actually ask _her_ to marry him. Of course Bella had said yes, even after knowing . . . Most marriages were for a lifetime, well some, at least. Theirs was . . . well, at least he wouldn't leave her.

"It seems, Edward, that you and I . . . have a lot to catch up on." This time it was my turn to sigh.

"Yes, sir." He bowed his head yet again.

"But . . . but I think I'm starting to understand. You and Bella. Sort of. When you left her . . . those months that you were gone. That was to protect her . . . from you."

"Yes, sir. Myself and others. Bella was in a great deal of danger, not just from me, but other, less civilized of our kind. I thought that by . . . leaving her, she could have a normal life."

My Bells had been in danger, and I never knew, never had a clue. What kind of father _was _I?

"She knew then, didn't she? I mean, what you were, or, er, are." All that time, Bella walking around with this huge secret, and my not knowing. Or not _wanting_ to know. I suddenly realized my parenting skills sucked.

"Yes, sir. She knew long before that. She figured it out, along with some help from Jacob." Edward got up from the bed and again walked over to the French doors, crossing his arms, looking out the window at the rain. I hadn't even noticed it was raining.

"Jacob?" _What the hell had _he_ done?_

"Yes. We'll, uh, fill you in on that later," he said, not looking back. He stayed staring out the window, until his head turned to look at Catherine. He concentrated on her face, and an almost unnoticeable intake of breath and a twist of his mouth made me think he was hearing something that couldn't be good.

But suddenly he looked back out the window. "Do you remember her supposed trip to Seattle not long after she came to live with you?"

_Seattle?_ "Um, no. But I take it that wasn't a trip to Seattle, though?"

"No, sir. She was with me that day. We went hiking, and well, that's when I showed her."

"Showed her?"

He turned back to me. "My skin in the sun. It's a rather strange effect. It's why we don't go out in the sunlight."

"You mean you don't burn up from it?"

"Uh, no. That's Hollywood's doing. We stay out of it to avoid . . . detection." He went back to staring out the window.

"Edward . . . I . . ." The only thing I could do was shake my head. "I . . . I didn't know. At first, I just thought it was some stupid, young kid's crush. Then, when you left, and Bella was . . ."

"I know, sir. I know it all. I will never stop making up to Bella for that."

"Edward, listen. I'm not chewing you out here. What I'm trying to say . . . what I'm trying to tell you is I think I understand. How much you . . . love her, and how much she loves you." I looked at Catherine, her teeth still clenched, her wails getting louder again.

_What I wouldn't do for her._

Edward came back to sit on the bed, grasping Catherine's forearm and reaching across to hold her thighs. He studied her face momentarily, and then looked at me. "And let me guess, Charlie. Now, sitting here, even knowing what you know, you don't know how you can go on without . . . _her_?"

In my heart, I already knew. I didn't care about the pain. Three days wasn't that long. And Catherine was lying here in front of me, enduring it, not even knowing . . .

"I . . . I can't let her go. Not now. Not after . . ." the words were barely out of my mouth when . . .

"No! Charlie!"

It happened so fast, I wasn't exactly sure it was happening. As Edward yelled, the entire Cullen clan appeared around the bed, someone pulling me from under my arms off the bed. Edward. He had somehow moved from the opposite side, to pulling me away from it without my even knowing.

"Wait! . . ." The "t" was still on my tongue, as Catherine let go with the most piercing scream I'd ever heard, my good hand inadvertently flying up to cover my ear. I pushed forward, but Edward's grasp, his hands firmly on my chest, had already moved me back to the door.

"Catherine!" Her legs were trying to kick, her arms trying to move, but they each held down a section of her, although even now knowing their strength, it looked like even they were struggling.

"Edward, get him out of here!" It was Bella.

It was so quick, I didn't even feel the movement, but I was back in the other room, on the bed, Edward holding me down.

"Charlie, you _must_ stay here. For now. It's . . . it's beginning. Catherine is only going to get stronger, and it _will_ become dangerous for you to be near her. Someone will be back in a bit." And he was gone.

My heart fought with my head, as the words that Edward just said began to sink in.

**CathPOV**

I _heard _them. A conversation between Charlie and someone else. Edward. Charlie had called him Edward. Bella's husband. Edward said he could _hear_ me. But how?

The fire raged on, my body at war within itself, my mind desperately trying to concentrate on what I was hearing, what they were saying. Something cool ran over my forehead, then down over my cheek, and then softly across my lips. _Oh please, whatever it was, please keep doing it. _

The voices were back, Edward and Charlie. They were discussing Bella and Edward. And Renesmee. _Oh! Wait. _What did Edward mean when Bella was human? What did he mean when . . .

". . . a child that was half like us . . . and half human . . ."

What the...? What the fuck did half like us mean?

"Yes. It was my . . . my venom that saved her."

Venom? The only venom I knew killed people. But he had said venom that _saved _her. In my mind, I saw a scene . . . I saw Bella . . . lying completely naked on a . . . a gaping hole where . . . blood everywhere . . . someone pounding on her heart, doing compressions . . . Edward stabbing her chest with a giant needle . . . walking around her, putting his mouth to her wrists, to her. . .

"She knew then, didn't she? I mean, what you were, or, er, are."

Charlie's voice. _What you _are_? Who? Edward?_

I tried to go back over what I'd just seen and heard, but the fire scorching through my veins kept distracting me. My mind whirled like an F5 tornado. Was this a conversation happening . . . or was this a dream? It couldn't be a dream. I'd never even met Edward, never heard his voice before. Charlie had never discussed Bella being anything but his daughter. But . . . I remembered the picture of Edward, Bella, and Renesmee that Charlie had hanging on his wall . . . how something had been strange about it. How Charlie seemed nervous when I stepped in to look closer at it.

And then from somewhere else, from somewhere in side my head. _"Catherine. Please try to stay calm. I know that you can hear Charlie and me. I also know that you can hear me now. You must be very scared. You're not dead. You're not in hell. I know it feels like your body is on fire. It's not. It's the . . . Everything will be fine. We're all here to help you." _

What the . . . who the hell was that?

_"It's Edward."_

But Edward wasn't saying these words out loud. He and Charlie were discussing someone named Jacob . . . a trip to Seattle . . . skin in the sun. Edward's skin in the sun.

"You mean you don't burn up from it?"

"Uh, no. That's Hollywood's doing. We stay out of it to avoid . . . detection."

Burn up? Avoid detection? _Hold on._ The voice in my head, which I was supposed to believe was Edward, said he knew what I was feeling. My body on fire. That I wasn't dead. How could he know?

_"Trust me, Catherine."_ That voice, supposedly Edward's voice, was asking me to trust him. For all I knew, he was the devil himself.

"Now, sitting here, even knowing what you know, you don't know how you can go on without . . . _her_?"

My mind started to flash words, phrases. When Bella was human. Half human, half like us. Venom. What you _are._

"I . . . I can't let her go. Not now. Not after . . ."

Charlie. Charlie's voice was so near, I felt like it was next to me.

My fingertips and toes began to tingle, where once there had only been blistering pain. The scorching fire that had just minutes ago raged through me, lessened ever so slightly, I only noticed the temperature change because of how hot it had been. Something was happening to me. Edward had said I wasn't dying, or at least someone in my head had said it.

And suddenly the monster's face appeared, as if he was again over me. His teeth, thousands of them . . . HIS TEETH IN MY NECK. VENOM. AVOID DETECTION.

But then I remembered. Those last moments in the cabin before . . . It was Bella's voice that said . . .

VAMPIRE.

This was a nightmare, and I had to wake up. I needed to roll over, sit up, _move_. Somehow, from the depths of me, I let go with a scream louder than I'd ever heard.

**BellaPOV**

I shut the door to Charlie's room. Carlisle had given him another shot for the pain, something to knock him out, although he'd fought against it, not wanting to be away from Catherine. Even with my vampire strength, I felt like I'd been hit by a train. I wished that some of what Carlisle gave to Charlie would work on me. To fall into a deep sleep again would be such a welcome relief right now. I heard Edward and Alice in the living room, so I went down the stairs to join them. Catherine's room was relatively quiet, so they must have come down to take a break, too. I just needed a few minutes, and then I'd rejoin the others. I sat down next to Edward on the couch, his arm going around me as I lay my head on his chest.

"Bella, there's something you need to know," Alice said, wringing her hands. She avoided looking directly at me.

"What is it, Alice?" Please tell me it's not another vision.

"Charlie's made his decision." Her hands had stopped, but now she sat completely still, staring at them.

"It was before he'd even seen Catherine. When you told him I could see the future, he . . . he wants to talk to me. Bella, I've seen three . . . possibilities. It could be Carlisle, you, or . . . Catherine." At the mention of Catherine's name, Edward shifted.

"The Carlisle one is the clearest, which means if all stays as it is, that will be what happens. The one with you is just slightly fuzzier, and I can't tell where or when. But the one with Catherine . . . all I see is her biting his neck. Everything is a mist around them." Alice glanced at me, and I knew she was still uncomfortable.

"Okay. It's okay, Alice. Thanks for telling me. If you think you can, I think you should have that talk with Charlie. I think you could . . . help. He may be able to ask you things he's uncomfortable asking me. You probably know already all of the questions he's going to ask you anyway." Alice returned the smile that I gave her.

"Bella, there's something else you need to know." Edward's voice came from just above my head. "Not only can I hear Catherine, but . . . I think she can hear me . . . along with everyone else."

I heard gasps from upstairs, as I sat up to look at Edward. "What do you mean?"

Edward stared across the room. "I can hear her mind, and she can't figure out the difference between the voices around her, the audible ones, and the ones she's hearing in her head."

"What?" My eyes flew to Alice and back to Edward.

"Before now, she'd only heard yours and Charlie's voices, so she has no idea who is speaking most of the time. But my conversation with Charlie. She heard it all. She not only heard it, but also what _I _was thinking. She's heard the others, too. But not you or Charlie. We shouldn't have said what we said around her. I didn't realize until it was too late . . . I tried to reassure her, and I know she heard me, but she wouldn't accept it. Then, as we talked, she started putting two-and-two together, certain . . . clues, until she remembered you saying the word vampire in the cabin. That's what brought on the scream and her . . . sudden thrashing. She thinks she's in the midst of a nightmare."

Edward could hear her, and she could hear him. She could hear _all _of them, except for Charlie and me. Just like Edward. We'd only ever known Edward to have that gift, although he wouldn't call it that. I felt strangely comfortable_ and_ uncomfortable about it. Comfortable in that now there would be someone else who could understand what Edward dealt with, and that Catherine would have Edward to help her. Uncomfortable in that I wasn't sure I wanted anyone else to now what was going on inside Edward's head.

I lay my ear to Edward's chest, and I tried to remember back to when I'd . . . what would it have been like if I hadn't known what was happening to me? What if I had been bitten with no prior knowledge, of the burning, of what I was becoming? I snuggled closer to Edward, and his hand casually caressed my arm. What if I'd been in a room with a bunch of strangers, the only voice I could hear initially Edward's? What if I'd thought I was dead? Would I have equated it with being in hell? Yes. The fire of the venom would have definitely made me think that. I had endured the burn, the fire, because I knew Edward and Renesmee were waiting for me. But Catherine had no idea. She had suffered the most heinous of all tortures just before being bitten, and bitten by the very monster who had forced himself on her.

I wanted to cry for her, but instead, I clenched Edward's shirt and buried my face in this chest. She must be either terrified . . . or going out of her mind. Either way, there was no way she wouldn't be affected when she finally . . . "Edward, you have to keep talking to her. You have to . . . Charlie won't be able to for much longer. I will, too. She knows my voice. But I have a feeling when she wakes up . . ."

"Bella, we'll all be there for her. And you're right. She's going to be very afraid," Alice said uncomfortably.

"Yes, Alice. Bella, I'm going to do everything I can. I hope you know that."

I popped my head up to look at him, his eyes meeting mine this time. "I know you will, Edward. But I need to talk to Charlie. If he's decided, if he . . . it will need to happen soon."

Just then, Edward's head jerked, and I looked up to see him staring at the patio doors. "Edward, what is it?"

"Nessie wants to see Charlie. She's terrified we're lying to her, and he's dead. She's upset with herself for the way things have been with the three of us. She's on her way with Jacob." Renesmee. She couldn't be near here for much longer . . . Just as I thought it, they walked in the back patio doors.

"Mom! Dad! Are you? . . . Is Grandpa Charlie? . . . Catherine? . . . Where is everyone?" She ran and knelt in front of us both, grabbing each of our hands. But I watched Jacob as he walked over and took the seat in the other chair, a perturbed expression on his face.

I attempted to calm Renesmee. "Shhhh. Everyone is fine. Grandpa Charlie is resting upstairs. He has a few broken bones, but they will heal. Catherine is . . ."

"I . . ." She looked down at the floor and shook her head back and forth. "I needed to tell you I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the other night, the way I've acted. You've had your hands full with Grandpa and Catherine, and I just . . ."

I sat up as Edward leaned forward and touched her cheek. "Ness, it's okay. We're sorry, too. The three of us and Jacob will . . . work on this. Soon."

Renesmee still wouldn't bring her eyes from the floor. "She was hurt, wasn't she? Catherine?" Even though her face was hidden, I could smell Renesmee's tears. I didn't know what to say.

"Yes. Yes, she was." I could feel Edward's tension as he hesitated, trying to decide whether or not to tell her what was actually happening upstairs. "Your mom and I . . . we all tried to . . . Ness, we didn't get there in time. She's . . . She's becoming . . ."

"Like you?" Renesmee's head came up, and she looked at Edward and then at me.

"Yes." Edward whispered.

Renesmee turned to look at Jacob. She knew enough of the tribal laws and of our treaty with the Quileute to understand the implications.

She turned back to Edward, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "But Dad, who . . . who did it? You're not supposed to . . ."

"We didn't do it, Ness. _He_ did." Edward's honesty worried me. I wasn't sure I wanted Renesmee to know all of this.

She got up from the floor and went to sit on the armrest next to Jacob. "Jake, then it's still okay? The treaty?"

Jacob heaved a huge sigh. "Yes. For now." Jacob grabbed her hand and held it in his, all the while looking at me and then Edward. I was almost embarrassed to see it, the gesture so simple, but saying everything.

"Mom, Dad, what does this mean for Grandpa? He didn't . . . he hasn't . . . if Catherine will be like us, what about him?"

Edward was already looking at me when my eyes sought his. _Yes, what about Charlie?_ "We don't know," Edward simply said.

Jacob now stared at Edward, and I knew what was coming. "I need to tell you both the pack is . . . well . . . nervous. We know that you didn't . . . that you weren't responsible, but . . ."

"Jacob, you and I will discuss this later," Edward cut him off, undoubtedly already knowing exactly what the pack was thinking, what _Jacob_ was thinking.

"I know you won't let me see Catherine, but can I see Grandpa? Please?" Renesmee begged. I knew she wouldn't let up until we gave in.

"Jacob, could you take Nessie up to Carlisle's and Esme's room? That's where Charlie is. Nessie, he's probably asleep, but you can sit with him for awhile, okay?" Although Edward's words seemed casual enough, I could feel otherwise. Renesmee shot off the chair, stopping at the base of the stairs, waiting.

"I'll take her." Alice bounded up from the chair she had sat uncharacteristically quiet in this whole time, and followed Renesmee up the stairs.

"We have to talk, Edward." I felt Edward tense, and knew he was seeing something in Jake's head that was not making him happy.

"I'm going to go up with them, but I'll be right back. Both of you try not to break anything while I'm away." I knew Renesmee would be safe with Alice and in the room with Charlie. I was not entirely sure about either Edward or Jake down here. Together. Without a referee.

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A/N:

Thanks again for reading and all of the nice feedback. It really does wow me to the core that you all actually are liking this! ;)


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry about the long wait for posting everyone. RL is kicking my ass (read RL job), and I have a feeling it will be through August. Please bear with me as I try to make a boss happy, a family happy, and all of you happy. Notice how I didn't say "me" happy. Actually making you happy makes me happy because that means I'm writing!

Thanks again to my wonderful beta Jenny Cullen, my pal Alexis Danaan who's been my prereader and pal since day 1, and my Twitterwife (at)MistressGemGem, (GemGem020507 here on ff, or Ladyrose on Twinet), for talking me off the ledge last week.

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**Chapter 19**

Khachaturian, Masquerade: IV. Romance

**CharliePOV**

I was running in sand - sand that was like heavy muck clinging to my shoes, making it harder and harder. A thick mist coming off the water made it almost impossible to see more than two feet in front of me. I couldn't find it . . . something . . . up ahead . . . something so important, something I _couldn't live without_ . . .

"Grandpa? Grandpa, it's Nessie."

That voice. My granddaughter. I looked to my left, and she was standing inland, where the sand met the forest, on a hill. The mist didn't go up any further on the beach than where I stood, and I saw her clear as day. But whatever was in front of me that I was running towards . . . if I stopped and went to Nessie, somewhere deep inside, I knew it would be lost.

"Nessie, he's still sleeping," I heard Alice say from somewhere, but I couldn't see her. I glanced back up the beach, at . . . then back at Nessie . . .

My head went back and forth between what was ever up the beach, then back to Nessie on the hill. Whatever was in front of me was disappearing, moving further from me. I had to choose. Choose between running to Nessie, my sweet girl, or finding out whatever it was up ahead . . .

_What _is _it?_ I tried to see through the fog, blinking my eyes to focus.

"Wait!" I yelled into the mist.

"Charlie, it's okay. It's Nessie, Bella, and Alice." _What?_

My view of the dark, foggy beach started to flash with brightness, my eyes straining to see, to stay, until my eyes were open, and sitting next to me on the bed was Nessie, with Alice and Bella standing behind her. I clenched them shut again.

_Shit._ It was a damn dream. I jerked my head to clear the fog, trying to hold on to, trying to . . . Nessie and . . .

Whatever Carlisle was giving me was making me loopy.

"Bella, tell Carlisle no more drugs. My head's messed enough as it is." My good hand rubbed my forehead and down over my eyes.

Nessie chuckled next to me. "Hey, Gramps. I'm glad to see you haven't lost your charm." Nessie smiled and gently put her hands on my shoulders, kissing my cheek. "Are you really all right? I mean, Mom said you have some broken bones, and it looks like your arm is one of them."

I tried to smile, and reached out to grab her hand with my good one. "I'll live, Ness. Don't you worry."

"Dad, I need to go back downstairs. Edward and Jacob are, um, having a discussion I need to be a part of. Will you be okay with Alice and Renesmee for awhile?"

"He'll be fine, Bella." Alice smiled at me, and I realized she probably knew we would be.

"Mom, it's _okay_. Right, Gramps?" She patted my hand in hers with her other one, and smiled at me, too.

I looked at my granddaughter, and finally saw her - the traces of Edward, and the bits of Bella. But her eyes. Her eyes belonged totally to her mother. Those beautiful brown eyes exactly like Bella's, like Bella's _used_ to be. Edward's words echoed in the back of my head.

_Half human and half vampire._

Just looking at her, there was no way to know. Edward and Bella had probably counted on that those many years ago. Well, at least I knew she wouldn't bite me. She'd had ample opportunity to do that in the last six or seven years. To think I'd actually believed the shit that she had some sort of genetic mutation that made her age quickly . . .

"Yo, Grandpa?" Nessie brought me back again.

"Yep? Oh, sorry." I nodded over to Bella that she could leave. "Go ahead. We'll be just fine. Oh, Bells? How's Catherine?" Bella had almost reached the door when she turned back to me.

"She's the same, Dad. But I'm going to come back soon, because we need to talk. Because . . ."

"I know." My decision was already made, but I'd yet to tell Bella. I just hoped they wouldn't say no. I needed to talk to Alice first. But the look on Bella's face made me wish I knew what was going on between Edward and Jake downstairs.

**BellaPOV**

As I'd stood by Charlie's bed, Edward and Jacob had already started their discussion, beginning with Jacob telling Edward again the tribe was nervous. His connection to Nessie divided friends and neighbors over what was actually happening here at the Cullen house. Jacob had described the situation to the elders, including what had happened to Catherine. Some reacted with alarm, until he told them we had taken care of the vampire ourselves. Others were nearly heartbroken at what it all meant, including Billy, and what it would mean for his best friend.

The problem was that most assumed Charlie would choose to stay human, not realizing the depth of his feelings, the love he had for her. No one had even known of Catherine's existence before yesterday, except Billy. Until Jake made it clear - Charlie might actually be considering his options.

My vampire speed couldn't get me downstairs fast enough after leaving Charlie, where I joined Edward at his side.

"Jacob, I know this goes against the treaty again, but _again_, we have special circumstances." Edward brought his arm around me as he spoke.

"It's not me this time, Edward. It would make it easier on all of us if Charlie was . . . well, it would be better if he was one of _us_, but I'll settle for one of you."

"Gee, how _magnanimous_ of you."

"Mag-what?"

"Never mind."

I felt it necessary to jump in, the tension in the room beginning to percolate. "Jacob, while I'm still waiting for Charlie to personally tell me, Alice knows he's decided. They can't possibly think that Charlie could go back to his old life. We'd already trusted him with so much, but this . . ." I stopped myself. I knew even if he'd wanted to stay human, it was too much to ask Charlie to keep secret.

Out of the blue, it hit me. I nearly gasped out loud. Somewhere inside my now-dead heart, the inkling gave way to full-fledged understanding. It would be easier if Charlie were one of us, yes. But it wasn't just that. Charlie had found someone, _someone he couldn't be without_. He had said so himself.

For the first time in our father/daughter relationship, I knew exactly how he felt.

"The elders and the older tribe members are just worried about the treaty. We've already smashed it to hell once." Jake looked at me. "Sorry, Bella, I just mean I believe they think what good is a treaty, if you, we, keep breaking it?"

"I think over the years, we have proven ourselves more as allies than as enemies. We fought together when the Volturi came, side by side. Surely there must a compromise. This is, after all, Charlie we're talking about. Not some random human we just picked off the street," Edward said compellingly.

Jacob thought for a moment, and then heaved a sigh. "I know that. But you know as well as I know, more vampires means more wolves."

Edward pulled me closer and reached for my hand with the one that wasn't around me. I looked up, sensing that the gesture meant something.

"Jacob, how would you feel if someone tore Nessie away from you, or vice versa, and told you that you could never be with her again, let alone near her?" I suddenly realized Edward's use of reverse psychology, but it made me slightly nervous. The situations were vastly different.

"It could never happen. It would never happen. I would never let her . . ."

"Mmmhmm." Edward nodded, still staring at my hand, his thumb rolling over the top of my ring. I couldn't help but grin up at him.

"But Nessie and I are different. Charlie didn't imprint on Catherine. Hell, they've only known each other for a week."

"I believe the phrase is 'love works in mysterious ways,'" Edward said grinning back at me.

Jacob turned away, saying over his shoulder, "Okay, barf. Whatever. No need to get all mushy with Bella while I'm standing here." He plopped into one of the chairs.

I nearly laughed out loud at Jacob, but Edward's sudden 180 had me more than confused. His gentle squeeze of my waist made me wonder what exactly had caused this disposition change from the big Cullen discussion just hours before. I left his side to walk over to the couch, curling up in the corner. Edward walked over and took the chair opposite Jacob.

I decided to go with the house of cards that Edward had built, crossed my hands, trying to make Jacob understand. "Jake, there has to be some sort of understanding we can come to with the tribe. If there were any other way, any other possibility . . ." I could feel Edward's eyes on me.

"Yes, Jacob. Truthfully, I'm as surprised as you are . . ." Edward said into the air.

I thought Edward had been opposed to Charlie becoming one of us; at least, that's the impression I'd had. But now, with Jacob, it almost seemed as if he was fighting _for _Charlie, for him to become . . .

"Edward, what's gotten into you?" I looked over at him, and though he tried to look serious, the corners of his mouth were slightly turned up, though only I would recognize the mischief behind the mask.

"My conversation with Charlie earlier was quite enlightening, that's all." We'd all heard it, and my heart had flipped when Charlie told Edward how he felt. Whatever had happened between Catherine and Charlie in the past week, whatever they had shared, had made him feel something he'd never felt in the last twenty years. But that didn't mean I still wasn't afraid, wary, of the consequences of turning him. We'd definitely all have to leave now, at least for a good seventy-five years, before coming back. Too many people in town knew him. We'd been able to keep Renesmee relatively hidden for the last few years, but Charlie? It would be impossible.

"What? What did he say?" Jake scooted forward on the chair was sitting in.

"He said he can't live without her," Edward answered him, and looked up at me as he said it.

"Crap. _Crap!_ I shoulda known. Bella's spawned from him, and look what she went through. Like daughter, like father - hell, I should've been able to predict Charlie's choice _myself, _without Alice's help."

Edward's laughter was enough to make me throw my shield over him.

_Like daughter, like father. Seems I said something similar just the other day . . ._

_You're taking all of this rather well, Edward. Are you feeling okay?_

_Yes, love, I am._

"Hey, do you _mind_? I'm still sitting here," Jacob interrupted, so I took my shield back. I would question Edward later.

Jacob glanced at me, and then looked directly at Edward. "There's another issue here, and that's Nessie's safety. I know you won't fight me on taking her away for awhile, to the Rez."

Edward's demeanor changed drastically, as Jake must have given away something in his mind for Edward to see.

"Jacob, I don't have to remind you that I can see everything you're thinking, do I?" Edward leaned forward in his chair. "I won't hesitate to come there and drag her back to the cottage if you even think . . ."

Jacob's palms flew up in defense. "Hey, _hey_. Don't get your vamp Calvins in a knot, Edward. I'll have her stay with Sam and Emily, okay?"

Edward's hand ran through his hair in a frustrated gesture that, to me, signaled his indecision. "Perhaps I'll give Sam a call so we're on the same page regarding what's allowed and what's not."

"No need, Pops. I got it - loud and clear."

This conversation was going way too well. I had initially thought by the time I came back from Charlie's room, Edward and Jacob would be at each other's throats. But Edward was being rather agreeable; very _unlike_ Edward. And Jacob? He'd actually stunned me with his diplomacy. Had the universe been knocked out of whack?

Edward suddenly stood up. "Nessie's on her way back down. Jacob, as much as it pains me to say it, you must take her now. It's only a matter of time for Catherine, and then . . . Charlie. You'll have to persuade the tribe on your own, because we all need to be here. It won't be easy. Do you think you're capable? We don't have much time." Edward looked at me as Jacob stood up.

"Yes, I can do this." Jake stared at a spot on the floor. "I'll deal with the elders and the tribe, and make them understand. We . . . you . . . Charlie . . . He really doesn't have a choice, does he? It's just . . . it's just my Dad." Jacob shook his head slightly. "I don't think he's going to take this too well."

"Remind him how far we've all come. Remind him of Nessie." Edward took a step closer to Jake, jarring Jake from his thoughts, his gaze now meeting Edward's.

"Don't worry about Nessie, Edward. She'll be safe with me. I promise." Jacob reached out his hand, and Edward took it in his with a firm shake. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Thank you," Edward said with sincerity.

"Jake . . ." I jumped off the couch, giving him a hug that was probably a smidge too tight.

"Bel . . . la. Loosen . . . up."

I let go, but let my hands trail down his arms to hold his hands. "Thanks, Jake. We'll let you know when it's safe, but do me a favor and keep her out of trouble. Keep _both_ of you out of trouble. I really don't feel like dealing with having to keep Edward from killing you right now."

"Like he could . . ." Jake trailed off as he looked from Edward to me. The grin that had been on his face slowly retracted as it met the stern expression I was giving him. I wasn't joking, and he suddenly knew it.

"Sure. Sure. No problem. Protect Nessie, no funny stuff, or I might have to kill Edward. I get it. I've _been there _before."

"Jacob," I sighed, but Edward had already swept past us and was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up, concentrating.

"Bella, Jacob, I have to get back to Catherine. She's . . ." He quickly rushed up the stairs.

**CharliePOV**

Alice came around the bed and sat on my other side. As Bella left, Nessie suddenly said, "They told me about Catherine."

"They did, did they? What did they tell you?" They couldn't have told Nessie everything . . .

"That she's becoming one of the family." The way she put it made me half-laugh.

"Yeah."

"Grandpa, can I ask you something? Do you love her?" I glanced over at Alice, and her smile made me slightly embarrassed. Again, though, if she could see the future, she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, I do."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Well, can you keep a secret?"

"Are you kidding?"

I laughed out loud, hiding the pain that my stupid rib caused again. "Good one, kid. But let me ask you, what do _you_ think I should do?"

"If you love her . . . well, if I loved someone, I couldn't imagine living without him. And if Catherine's becoming . . . I guess you want to, too? Right?" I had to laugh at her. It was so simple, so black and white for her.

"Well, first, I need to talk to Aunt Alice here." I felt Alice's hand lightly touch my shoulder as I said it.

"Nessie, do you mind giving your Grandpa and me a few minutes? Jacob's waiting for you. He's going to take you to the Rez for a few days, since Catherine will be waking up soon." Alice looked at Nessie as she asked, but Nessie sighed and looked down at her hand in mine.

"Yeah, I suppose." She mumbled, but something in her face and sigh led me to believe she wasn't happy about leaving. Poor kid. She was probably so protected, it was driving her nuts . . .

Nessie's hand was still in mine, and she brought it up into her other one. "Listen, Gramps, if you . . . I know I won't be able to see you for awhile - you or Catherine. I'll call and check in, and hopefully soon, we'll all be able to . . ." She dropped her head. "I wish I could be here to help. Mom, Dad, Jake . . . they would _never_ let me near the place. But I'll be thinking of you both the whole time."

"I know you will, kid. Don't worry, I'll see you as soon as Mom and Dad will let us, okay?"

"Deal." She got up off the bed and stopped at the foot of it. "I'm so happy you found someone, Gramps. I can't wait to meet her." She walked over to the door and blew me a kiss.

Before leaving, she turned back, looking confused. "Aunt Alice, are you hearing what I'm hearing? Jake and . . . Mom and Dad?"

"Yes. Emmett tried to secretly set up a video camera, but of course, your Dad saw the idea before Em was even downstairs."

"Hah! Seriously? Maybe that's why Dad's being so strange. I can't wait to get down . . ." Then she was gone. Being half-human didn't seem to affect her hearing or her speed. She was just like the rest of them.

"Alice, does everyone in this house hear what everyone else is saying all the time?" Alice was suddenly sitting where Nessie had been, so she could hold my good hand.

"Well, yes. There aren't any secrets around here, Charlie. Not unless we go to Canada to tell them. Edward always knows, at least with us. Not so much with Bella, unless she . . . well, that's something I'll let Bella explain." I didn't know what she meant by that last part, but her cute little giggle made me laugh.

"So, whatever we say right now, everyone will overhear." I said it out loud again, more for my benefit than hers.

"Yep." Alice looked down at my hand she was still holding. "Charlie, I know what you want to ask me, so why don't you just ask?"

"If you _know_, then why don't you just _tell_ me what I want to know?" I joked back.

"Augh! Yes, _all right_?" She dropped my hand, pretending to be ticked. "You will be, okay? I just don't know by whom yet." She crinkled her forehead and twisted her lips, making a frustrated little face.

"What do you mean, _by whom yet_?" I hadn't really thought about _who_ would do it. Bella, maybe, but . . .

"I haven't seen who will . . . be the one to turn you. I've seen three possibilities, but two are a little hazy. When that happens, it usually means that other decisions may affect the outcome. The clearest one, though, is Carlisle."

_Carlisle?_ I tried to shift to a straighter position, when I realized that Alice had already helped and straightened the pillows behind me. _Carlisle_ _was going to gnaw at my neck._ I wasn't really sure how I felt about that.

"What about Bella?"

Alice was next to me again, my hand in hers. "She's one of the other possibilities."

"Who's the third?" She didn't answer right away, and it spooked me. "It's Catherine, isn't it?" _How could that be bad?_

"Charlie, that's the foggiest of all of them. I don't know why. But we can't possibly let that one happen. Catherine will be too new. She'll be unable to . . . stop herself, and very well might end up killing you."

Something in me really wanted it to be Catherine, if it were going to be anyone. "But you all could stop her, right? Even if she was out of her mind, or crazy, or whatever it is that happens when she's a . . . a newborn?"

"We're not going to take that chance." Alice shook her head as she said it.

Suddenly, I was worried. Worried for Catherine. Worried for me. What was she going to be like when . . . Hell, what was _I _going to be like when . . .

No. No use going there. I'd made up my mind, and there was no going back now.

"Alice, what does Bella think? Do you know? Is she . . . is she okay with this?" Shit, if Bella weren't for this . . .

"She wants you to make your own decision, just like she did."

"But . . ."

"You'll have to ask her, Charlie. That's a discussion the two of you should have." I let my eyes travel around the room, trying to come to grips with all that Alice had just told me. Most likely it would be Carlisle to turn me, and well, it was probably for the best. He was a doctor, seemed like he might know the most out of all them, and most likely wouldn't kill me in the process.

"When?"

"Whenever you're ready. We'll have to keep Catherine away from you when she wakes up, at least until your blood is mixed with the . . . um, venom. It's best if you do it as soon as possible, so we don't have to worry about her going after you." Alice's head turned toward the door.

"Bella's coming up now." With that, Bella knocked and poked her head in.

"How's it going in here?" She looked from me to Alice.

"Like you don't already know." I cocked my head to the side and gave her the look.

"Uh, well, yeah." She walked through the door, and as she did, Alice jumped up from the bed and hugged her. I heard sound going between them. I think they were words, but they spoke so fast, I had no idea what they were saying. A small part of me couldn't wait until I could try out all of this vamp-shit, even if it meant I had to drink blood instead of Vitamin R.

They finished their speed convo, and a whoosh of air and the door closing told me Alice had left. I didn't even get the chance to thank her.

Bella sat down next to me on the bed. "Bells, I know what you're thinking . . ."

"_Dad_." Bella sighed. "I'm just . . . I just want you to be sure. Have you really thought about it? Thought about what you'll be giving up? You won't be able to be a cop anymore. You won't be able to go back to our house. You'll have to leave Forks."

"Yeah, I know." I reached out to grab her hand, and the coldness only slightly shocked me. Soon, Catherine's hands would be this cold. Soon, _my_ hands . . .

"Bells, none of those things matter without her. I can't really _be_ a cop anymore, and I wouldn't want to be if it meant I could never see her . . . I want to be where she is, _wherever_ that is. If she'll still have me."

The thought crossed my mind that I really didn't know how Catherine would feel about me after . . .

"Bells, do you know . . . how she'll _seem_ . . . how she'll . . . Do you think she'll still feel the same . . . about _me_?"

Bella paused was way too long, as if trying to find the right words. I didn't want any bullshit. I wanted the truth. At least, I thought I did.

"I'm not sure. What I remember most about waking up was the intensity of emotion, the overwhelming smells, the heightening of all of my senses, and the burning in my throat for . . . blood. But Edward was there, and I do remember my love for him was the same, just more _intensified_. The rest of the family was there, too. They were all ready to . . . help if I freaked out. The funny thing is, I didn't. I showed some rather remarkable control for a newborn. Even Jasper was amazed."

"Jasper?"

"Jasper has a history with newborns. He was turned while fighting for the South in the Civil War. I'll let him tell you the story."

"_Civil War? _Cripes, he's old." Bella's head turned slightly toward the door, smiling. Damn, that's right. They could all hear us, and Jasper probably just heard me call him . . .

"Jasper says to tell you that you and he will decide that issue once you're on equal ground."

A brief thought of Jasper and me, North against South, a deck of playing cards, and a game of War flashed. Probably not exactly the way it was going to go down, but I'd deal with that later.

"But you remembered . . . Edward, I mean."

"Yes. But Dad, Catherine's situation is going to be vastly different. She didn't _choose _this. What happened to her before . . ." I tried not to wince at what Bella was trying to say, but what that . . . motherfucker did to her . . . how could either of us forget?

"I get it, Bells. She's going to be messed up. She would have been even if she were still . . . What you're trying to tell me is even more so. The rrr . . . what _he_ did . . ." I couldn't say the word _rape_, "along with these . . . intensified emotions. The newborn thingy."

"Yes, Dad. Rosalie has experience . . ."

"Rosalie?"

Bella let out a huge sigh, and then perked her head to the door. "Okay. Rosalie just said it's okay you know. She said I could tell you."

"Tell me? Tell me what?" Man. Now what.

"Rosalie was . . . she had a similar experience. Except it was her fiancé . . . and his friends. Carlisle found her near death and saved her. Changed her."

My deep breath sent a sharp pain into my side, the cop in me sending my blood to boil. That beautiful young girl . . . it suddenly explained a lot to me about Rosalie. Emmett, too. No woman should ever be touched, abused, _violated_ in that way.

Now I personally knew two who had been.

"She wants you to know she's going to try and help Catherine as best she can. She doesn't have anything but experience to go by, but she's willing. She highly suggests you talk to Emmett. Although he is a big oaf sometimes, he might be able to give you perspective."

I thought I heard Emmett's booming, "Hey!" off in the distance.

I knew enough of victims, human ones, to know what Catherine would be feeling. Shame, guilt, fear, anger, blame were all words that I had heard victims use, saying they felt like damaged goods. I'd taken courses in how to recognize the signs when a victim was too traumatized to talk about it. I couldn't bear the thought of Catherine feeling that way about herself.

The cop in me knew it wasn't that simple. She might actually push me away. If what Bella was saying was true, what Catherine would be feeling would be _compounded_ by . . . and infinitely worse.

If only we hadn't gone back to the cabin. If only we hadn't walked on the beach. If only we'd gotten the hell out of there . . . the "if onlys" started running through my head like rapid fire.

If only I had saved her.

"God, Bells. I . . . I _failed_ her. I didn't protect her like I should have, like I told her I would." My head dropped, and I couldn't look Bella in the face.

I felt the cold smoothness of Bella's other hand softly running over the top of mine. "Dad, there was nothing you could have done. Even _we_ couldn't protect her."

Although I didn't want to admit it, Bella was probably right. From what I'd seen, from what I remembered, I was lucky to be alive. We both were, thanks to the Cullens. If I couldn't help her, then...

I looked at my Bells, my determination even stronger. "Yeah, but now. . . _now_, I can help her. It's the only thing I _can_ do for her."

Bella's eyes traveled away from mine, somewhere behind me to the wall, as if remembering something, and then came back to mine. "Are you _sure_, Dad? Because there's no turning back. Not that I wouldn't be happy to have you around forever. But Catherine, is she...are you willing to give up everything, everything human, that is, for her?"

I let out another long sigh, dropping my head back on the pillows underneath it. Catherine had sacrificed herself for me, not knowing the ultimate price she would pay. She'd given herself, thinking she would _save_ me. To let her suffer whatever it was that she would go through, _without me_ . . .

_N-never let m-me go. Promise._

I had _promised _her.

"I am, Bells. I wouldn't be giving up anything," I said, and through the pain, I sat up straighter, taking Bella's cold hand and holding it tighter. "I'd be gaining the most important thing to me in my life right now, along with you, Nessie, and the Cullens."

Bella glanced down at our hands, my one big one sandwiched between her small ones.

It suddenly occurred to me. . . "Bells? Is everyone else okay with this? On board?"

"Yeah, amazingly." She looked up and smiled at me.

"Even Edward?" I remembered what Edward had told me earlier. He had said that he hadn't wanted Bella to become . . . that he'd only done it to save her.

"Yes, Dad. Surprisingly, _even_ Edward." Bella's laugh made me feel a little bit better.

"How bad was it? Your persuading him?" It couldn't have been easy.

Bella took my hand in hers and pulled slightly. "_I _didn't. _You_ did. When you said you couldn't live without her. I believe he . . . no, I believe _both _Edward and I know what you're talking about. Actually, I think if you asked anyone in this house, they would _all_ understand."

For a moment, I wondered what she meant by that. Then I realized Carlisle had Esme, Emmett had Rosalie, Jasper had Alice. Of course they understood. "Okay, well that's . . . good, I guess. So, Alice said it would most likely be Carlisle. You know, doing it. But she apparently saw you and Catherine, too."

"Dad, it has to be Carlisle. I've never done it before, nor have I had a drop of human blood since I was changed. I don't know what it would be like, and I don't want to experiment on you." Bella's eyes fell to the bed, and even though her expression was unreadable, I knew there was no way she wanted to bite her old man.

"It's okay, Bells. Although I feel a little funny about it being Carlisle. I mean, I feel like I hardly know him, and he's gonna bite my neck and all . . ." I looked across the room at the mirror above the dresser and saw myself sitting on the bed. I had no doubt I would not be looking over there when Carlisle's teeth were in my neck.

"Dad, Carlisle is responsible for Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. Only Alice and Jasper were turned by others. He is the expert, and you'll be in good hands. Don't worry."

I wasn't _worried_. It was just . . . another _man_ . . . biting my neck?

Bella was already looking at me again when I turned back to her. "Well, all right then. Alice said we need to get on with this. But . . . can I see her . . . one last time . . . before?"

Bella's head turned toward the door, as if she was expecting someone, or listening to someone. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Dad. Catherine might wake up at any moment."

"Well, if she bites me, you all can drag her off me until I can fend for myself. Carlisle can then step in and do . . . whatever it is he needs to do."

"Dad . . ."

"Bella. Just once more, before . . . I'll be down at least three days. That's what Carlisle said, and who knows what she'll . . . what I'll . . ."

I stopped and thought about what could possibly happen in three days, and I couldn't even imagine. Would Catherine be all right without me until I came out of it? Would she even still be the Catherine I knew? That'd I'd fallen in love with? Well, if she wasn't, only I could help her. That much _I_ knew.

I tugged at Bella's hand. "So, Superdaughter, think you can help your old man walk once more? I wanna walk. Just tell Carlisle to be ready, because I want this done ASAP," I joked in my best dad/cop voice.

There was a knock on the door, and then Edward's head poked through. "Charlie, you can only stay for a moment, but we'll all be there just in case."

"I figured," I said, tearing the covers back.

* * *

**A/N:**

Ahhh. Charlie to the rescue. Giving up his humanness for his woman. Whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man.

But how _will_ it happen? Who will be the one? What will Catherine be like when she wakes up?

Stay tuned...

Thanks everyone for reading. I said I wasn't going to beg for reviews, and I'm not, but you know, if you want to, that'd be really terrific. :D


	20. Chapter 20

I think you all know what's going to happen here, so I won't keep you.

But allow me a quick shout out to my gals over at the Twilight Counsel blog on LiveJournal. If anyone is a newbie author looking for a little guidance, I highly recommend them.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight. Yeah, whatever...

* * *

**Chapter 20**

Elgar, Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op.85, Adagio-Moderato

**CathPOV**

"Catherine, can you hear me? If you can, my name is Rosalie. I'm Edward's sister. I just want you to know you're not alone in this. I'm sitting right next to you. I know what you've been through, what you're going through, and I'll be here to help you, however I can. We're all here, even Charlie, although he's in another room. He's waiting for you, Catherine. Soon, you both can be together."

Another voice, someone named Rosalie - Edward's sister. Who the hell _were_ all of these people? I was literally losing my mind. The voices had grown clearer as the burning lessoned. I could now feel my fingertips and toes, but the beating of my heart was slowing.

_Why could I still feel it? Phantom beating like amputees? If I was dead, I wouldn't be able to hear it, feel it._

Edward had told me I wasn't dead.

_Then what the hell was happening to me?_

_"She's not bad for an older woman. Actually, she's gonna be kinda hot. Charlie is a lucky old bastard."_

And just who the fuck was that?

Suddenly, it was like being in a crowded concert hall, the conversations, the noise, melding into each other, but then not, making me confused. Agitated. I could hear Edward and someone named Jacob talking about some treaty, about Charlie, and about me.

But then I heard him. Charlie. He was talking to someone . . . Nessie, and someone named Alice.

"They told me about her . . ."

"She's becoming one of the family . . ."

One of the family? Who? Me? What family? I didn't ask to be a part of any family, I already had one.

". . . what do _you_ think I should do?"

"If you love her . . . well, if I loved someone, I couldn't imagine living without him. And if Catherine's becoming . . . I guess you want to, too? Right?"

Before I had time to think about what had been said, it was at that moment a smell so delicious, so enticing registered with something in the back of my brain and in the back of my throat. A craving so strong, so compelling, I'd never felt anything like it.

_I had to have it. I must have it._

But I didn't know what _it_ was. My frustration grew, because I couldn't identify it, the burning in my throat intensifying, the frustration turning into out-and-out anger as I had to have it. A fury so intense I wanted to rip someone's head off to get it.

Whatever _it_ was, it was coming from that room, the desire to possess it overcoming any other thought but . . .

It was the same room where Charlie's voice was as clear to me as it had ever been.

I felt my fingers twitch, the intense heat throughout my body subsiding to a point just below my elbows. A hand went over mine.

_I wasn't dead._

Part of my mind actually believed it, but the rational part fought it. All reason, all knowledge that I possessed struggled with the physical prompts, the sounds, the smells. If I were dead, it would be nothingness, or at least the eternal continuation of the burning. But the fires were extinguishing, as my heart drummed slower and slower, though. I could feel it. Was I dying _again_? Had I just been in a coma, my body severely reacting to some drug they had pumped into me?

_Like fire through your veins . . ._

Someone had said that not so long ago, but I didn't remember who. The confusion incensing the anger back to the forefront, as the raging fire throughout my body seemed to pull back, diminishing slowly on a path directly to my chest. But I didn't _feel _weaker, even though my slowing heart told me I should. No, I actually felt _stronger_, more alert, aware, and . . . _thirsty. _

Then my heart started to race.

I heard a door opening, and then the voices . . .

"She's very close. Perhaps we shouldn't let him in, Edward."

"It's still okay, but it's going to be close. She has exactly two minutes and ten seconds . . ."

"Charlie, you heard Alice. Carlisle, be ready to take him back and begin."

The one male voice I didn't know, but I had heard him before. He seemed . . . _kind_ was the only word that came to mind. The female's - I had heard her, too, but I didn't know her name. The other was Edward. Was he talking _to_ Charlie?

_Dammit! Close to what? Why did they all speak so cryptically?_ I didn't know why, but something in the back of my head kept telling me not to trust them, any of them.

_No. NO!_ I needed to, I needed to know . . .

That incredible smell wafted over me again, closer now, becoming even stronger, more potent. A twinge in the back of my throat grew hot, worse than the worst strep throat I'd ever had. I heard more voices, but these were different again. They weren't out loud.

_This is a bad idea. _That was definitely Mr. Kinda-Hot.

_I hope she's all right when she wakes up, for both hers and Charlie's sake. _A woman's voice I had heard before too. Very kind, almost motherly.

_I don't know if can help her, but I'll try._ I recognized that last one as Rosalie's.

"Emmett, Jasper, you and Edward surround her. Bella, take the opposite side from Charlie. Catherine knows your voice. Alice, Rose, and Esme, you take positions next to the boys. I will be responsible for Charlie. If anything happens, if she . . . you all must see that she doesn't . . ."

"We know, Carlisle. We know. She won't get passed us." The way he answered Carlisle, the sound of his voice, I recognized Mr. Kinda-Hot's name as Emmett.

"Jasper, you must use everything you have to keep her calm if-"

"I will, Carlisle." That other voice must be Jasper's.

And then the scent was there, so close I could reach out and . . .

"Catherine, it's me. It's Charlie."

The hand that was over mine suddenly disappeared, and it was replaced by another that was very warm. The rough skin, the way it engulfed mine . . . I'd recognize the touch anywhere. Charlie's hand on mine . . .

I needed to open my eyes. I needed to clutch him to me and . . . but something in the back of my throat started to scorch, almost as hot as the rest of my body had recently been.

"Baby, I'm going to have to go away for awhile, but you'll be waking up soon. All of the Cullens are here to help you, including Edward and Bella." Charlie explained.

_Go away? _

_Charlie was going away? Where? Why? NO!_

The burning still within my body rocketed straight to my heart, as if it was coming out of my chest. The fire in my throat competed with it, the urge . . . for whatever was next to me. I needed it, I needed to . . .

"Charlie, she hears you, but she's starting to . . ." Edward said.

"They'll explain everything when you wake up." Charlie cut him off.

"Carlisle, now!" Edward yelled.

A suction feeling, like a plunger had been placed over my heart, the beating faster and faster, my chest rising as if being pulled, until . . . .

"Catherine!" Charlie's voice faded as if being taken away from where it had just been so close.

Whoosh. The thudding that had once been suddenly came to a halt. My lungs didn't move, something saying I didn't need to breathe, but my mind not accepting. The burning throughout my body was completely gone, except for the scorching in my throat.

My eyes flew open, my need for whatever was had been next to me, so close to me, more overwhelming than the need to see my surroundings. But as my eyes searched for it, I saw people . . . Edward, Bella, and others, holding me down, their faces suddenly . . . changing. It was _his_ face, Damian's, the _monster's_ . . . on seven bodies around me-fourteen hands and arms holding me down. Hands and arms all attached to his face . . .

"_Noooo_!"

"She sees him . . . Hold onto her."

My head flew to the left, recognizing the voice as Edward's, but I didn't care. I needed to be free. I needed to get out of there. I needed Charlie and whatever that sweet scent had been when he'd been so near. I needed the hands clutching me to let go. I pulled and kicked, fighting with everything I had, twisting and turning, too fast for the hands holding me down. I was out of the bed and near the door in the far corner before I'd even realized I moved, my body crouched down in some weird position I could only describe as defensive.

_I was under attack._

The seven monster faces had disappeared, replaced with Edward, Bella, and five others I didn't know. They were staring at me, hunched over in an almost similar position to which I was standing.

"Catherine, we're not going to hurt you," Bella said to me. I looked at her, but kept an eye on the others, too. I shook my head. It was Bella, for Godsake. She wouldn't . . .

"We're here to help you. Please let us." My eyes went to Edward, his hand outstretched in some gesture that I should walk forward. I blinked as I rectified the voice I knew with the person now standing five feet in front of me. The voice I had heard out loud, but also in my mind-talking to me, comforting me, reassuring me . . .

The burning in my throat made me clutch it with my hand. That _smell_. It was coming from behind me. Through the door. All I needed to do . . .

"Catherine!" Edward yelled, but as my name left his lips, the men were around me before I could react.

Arms of strangers encircled me, and hands clutched my arms before I could make my escape. Something sprang from the depths of me, a sound I'd never heard myself make before as my legs and arms fought against my captivity. It was...it was...

A growl.

I wanted Charlie. I needed to be with Charlie. I wanted to . . . I was suddenly overcome with a vision of Charlie's neck, the bluish, reddish artery that pumped . . . and my mouth over it, my teeth sinking into his soft flesh, when something liquid, which wasn't saliva, started to collect in my mouth.

_Carlisle, you'd better get on with it. She sounds pissed._

_Yes, Charlie. She is._

He was close. His voice cleared the vision and made me swallow whatever was in my mouth. I shook my head fighting to overcome whatever it was that was taking over, but on the other hand, losing myself in the overwhelming need to . . . A faint wave of something came over me-in engulfed me in a stillness, a peace. I wanted to fight it, but I . . . couldn't. Whatever it was, it glided from my head down my body, to my toes, encompassing like a net thrown over me. I stopped struggling, physically unable to even if I had wanted to keep fighting. It was like I had been drugged, or something like it.

I took the time to really look at the women who were still across the room from me, from Bella to the others, and then down at the arms around me, the hands on my arms. They were restraining me from . . . from what? Them? Charlie?

_Myself?_

"What's . . . what's wrong with me?" The words came out of my mouth as soon as they entered my head.

_Was that me?_

My _voice_. I . . . I didn't _recognize_ it. It sounded . . . musical, like someone had used soundboard equipment on it before it even left my vocal chords.

I suddenly wanted to drop to the floor, curl up in a ball. But I also wanted to _run_ . . . run as far away as I could possibly get. I couldn't decide.

_Vampire._ Bella's voice and the word came back from the cabin.

"Yes, Catherine. I know it's difficult to believe. But yes, you're right. We need to take care of that burning, the burning in your throat. Jasper?" Edward said from behind me, his hands around my stomach, and the two men still gripping my arms.

"I'm trying, Edward. She's just . . ." Jasper answered to my right.

"You have to feed, Catherine," Bella said approaching me.

Another nearly involuntary growl rose from the pit of my stomach as Bella came closer, her arms outstretched, her palms up. The other women stood back still in their weird stances. "I know it sounds strange, but we're going to help you with that."

I looked her over, studying her face, her eyes. A voice in my head repeated _enemy_, but . . . I shook my head side to side to rid the notion. No, this was _Bella_. Charlie's own daughter. She wouldn't hurt me, and I could never hurt her.

She raised her and softly put it to my cheek, and I jerked my head away, causing her to squeeze her fingers into a fist and drop her hand. "Catherine, it will be okay. Reallym it will. Please let us help you."

"Catherine, I'm Rosalie." The beautiful blond walked toward me, her hand outstretched.

My eyes bore into hers, the same light eyes as the rest of them, and I remembered her voice and the kindness of her words as she spoke to me. "Yes, yes. I heard you, I think. You were just . . . talking to me."

"Yes. We're all here for you, and for Charlie." The smile she gave me was as beautiful as she was.

"Charlie . . ." I said his name, and the craving fired again, like throwing gasoline on an already raging bonfire.

In the same instant, I felt the grasp of my captors lessen.

"Guys!" The little one with the short hair screamed.

I was out of their grasp, bursting through the flimsy wood of the door, and down the hall before the sound fully left her lips, his wonderful smell leading me straight to him. When I threw the door open, it crashed into the wall and fell from its hinges. Charlie's eyes were wide open, staring at me, a man's face buried in his neck. A man I presumed to be Carlisle.

_What the fuck is he doing? Get OFF him!_

I raced to the edge of the bed, and stopped to realize just how fast I could move - it was . . . exhilarating. That wonderful smell overtook the sensation, and I recognized chocolate, evergreen, something like pipe tobacco or cloves, the sea . . . I took in a whiff, as if was the most coveted scent on the planet. Because it was all _him_. It was all _my_ Charlie.

Carlisle lifted his head from Charlie's neck, holding his hand out as if to stop me. But Charlie was . . . Something red was on Carlisle's lips, and the sight and smell of it made the burning in my throat fever pitch.

It was blood. _Charlie's _blood.

I quickly glanced at Charlie's neck to see what looked like teeth marks and more red. More blood.

I didn't know why I was doing it, but in that split second of recognition . . . of yearning . . . I just wanted to taste . . . Another scream erupted from me like I'd never heard before.

"_Mine_!"

Before I could touch him, before I could save him, before I could . . . a slew of arms were around me, pulling me, holding me.

"_Nooooo_! Let me go! Charlie!"

Suddenly, Bella's face was in front of me, pushing on my shoulders to force me back with incredible strength.

Then it hit me. I wanted blood. I wanted Charlie. The two things were synonymous.

Charlie looked at Carlisle and through clenched teeth, said to him, "Finish it, Carlisle. And . . . take . . . care of her until I . . ."

I watched in horror as Charlie's whole body arched, the most anguished cry tore from his lungs and I felt momentarily numb. Charlie was in _pain_ . . .

Charlie's cry pierced like a needle to my brain. "Charlie! No . . . pleeeease." But a fleeting glimpse of his face slumped up against a couch caused me to lash out. I fought against the arm and hands that were pulling me backwards. "What are you doing to him? What's happening to him?" I screamed, looking from Charlie to Bella, who was still restraining me, her arms outstretched pushing harder now against my shoulders. And then everything hit me . . .

Carlisle had been biting Charlie's neck, just like the monster had bit mine.

In that same moment, I caught a glimpse of the entire scene in a dresser mirror across the room, and in it, the one thing that held my attention more than the nightshirt I was wearing, which wasn't mine, or the way my skin seemed paler than it had been. I stared back at two bright red eyes and saw them widen as my own eyelids did. Bright red eyes on a face that looked like my own.

Red eyes.

"What happened-"

I didn't finish the sentence, as something like a powerful lethargic wave and feeling of submission swept over me nearly sending me to the floor. Between this, and the combined strength of the arms and hands around me, I lost all will to push forward. Bella's elbows locked, the pressure of her hands driving me back . . . away from Charlie. I let them drag me, watching Charlie's body writhing, while screams escaped his clamped-shut teeth. Carlisle biting his wrist was the last image I saw, the view disappearing as my captors raced me from the room.

Rooms, furniture, décor flew by me, as they brought me out through what I presumed was a backyard, and into a forest. A grand staircase, a white living room, a mahogany dining room table and chairs . . . nothing I recognized.

Even though I knew they were running fast, I glanced around and I saw trees, the view conjuring a memory that jolting me out of my passiveness. Trees . . . and then within a forest. Charlie and I walking . . .

_Charlie, I'm not crazy am I? Please tell me . . . you feel it, too?_

_I-I do. I . . . thought _you_ would think _I_ was crazy if I . . . said so._

But then . . . _his _cold hand. On my cheek, down, down, to my neck. _No_! Panic began to swell within me again, and I began to fight harder. I didn't want to be here with hands all over me, _his_ hands . . .

"She's remembering the first time she saw him. We have to get her out of here. Take her to the clearing." Edward's voice just to the right of my face directed.

The greenery rushed by as I kicked Emmett who had my feet and tugged my arms from Jasper and Rosalie to break free.

_Catherine, please try to calm down. We're not trying to hurt you. But we had to get you away from Charlie. He's not one of us yet, and you might have hurt him._

Edward's voice penetrated the chaos that was my head.

_What?_ I stopped struggling. _Did you say hurt him?_ I couldn't hurt Charlie, could I?

_Yes. I'm afraid you could._

No. I would never hurt Charlie. I . . . I _loved_ him.

_Edward? . . . That's you, isn't it?_

_Yes._

_But I want him, Edward. I need him. I need to . . . I'm so _confused_. Please . . ._

_Yes, I understand. We're going to get you fed, so you don't feel that way anymore. Carlisle and Esme are taking care of Charlie, don't worry._

We came upon a wide open space, with hardly a tree. There were wildflowers growing here and there - purple, yellow, white.

Charlie had brought me flowers that first morning . . .

The smells. I could smell _everything_. I could see _everything_. The shock overcame the urge to flee as the Emmett dropped my legs and came and took Rosalie's place at my arm. My head flew from sight to sight, my mouth falling open from the impossibility of it all - from a bird perched on a branch at the top of the highest tree, to the various bugs crawling amidst the grass and brush below. My tense muscles began to soften, I felt . . . relaxed, at least more than I'd been, even though Jasper, Emmett and Edward were still holding me.

"It's working, Jasper." Edward said from behind me, his arms still around my waist.

"Rose and I will go get her something." Rosalie and the other tiny one with the spiky-brown hair ran into the woods.

A strange scent, one that brought the burning back to the forefront, was off to my left. It was not as . . . pleasant as the one . . . I wanted to go to it, needed to go to it. . .

"Rose and Alice will bring it to you, Catherine." Edward said from behind me.

_But I was still captive._

A hand tightened on my wrist, and the memory of my hands being held over my head came back like it was actually happening again. His mouth crushing mine. His fingers . . .

"Jasper!" Edward yelled from behind me.

_Please, don't touch me . . . _

"_Let. Me. Go!_" I yelled, pushing and wiggling again to gain freedom. From behind my closed eyes, I felt his hands on my cheeks, and I flung my head back and forth to make them go away.

"Catherine. It's me. It's Bella." I opened my eyes to see Bella standing in front of me. Her palms were on either side of my face. I knew she was just trying to comfort me, but I didn't want them there. I wanted to cry, but no tears came. It was the oddest feeling.

"It's okay, Catherine. It will be okay. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett are just holding you to protect you from yourself. They're not going to hurt you like he did."

"Edward, I can't . . . she's all over the place. Confusion. Remorse. Hunger. Fear." Jasper said to my right. My eyes darted to the side to look at him, and he seemed like he was struggling with something.

"I know. I'm seeing it."

_What am I doing? _

My mind, my body felt like it wasn't my own. My emotions, my will, fought against each other, as my eyes searched Bella's face for answers. For understanding. She was trying to help me. They all were. Part of me_ knew_ this. But yet, something else, something dark, paranoid, twisted, kept . . . lashing out, like a ravenous caged animal. I couldn't control it. I couldn't make it go away, even though I wanted to. This wasn't who I was, it wasn't _me_.

The worry on Bella's face registered with something in me, replacing the panic and the anguish with embarrassment and . . . shame.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's happening to me. I can't . . . _think_. Everything is so . . ."

"Intense?" She said it as if she knew. She must know. She was one of them.

"Yesss," I hissed.

"I understand, Catherine. Trust me. Try to stay with me. Try to focus on what you know to be right and good." Her arms flew around my shoulders, hugging me to her, my body tensing as she did. My feet tried to step backwards away from her, and if it weren't for the guys still holding my arms, and Edward behind me, I would've escaped her grasp.

My mind struggled with the urge, as her arms slid forward to hold my face again. "You can do this, Catherine. Do it for you and . . . my Dad."

The girls, Rose and Alice, came back, dropping what looked like a deer just behind Bella. The scent not nearly as powerful as Charlie, but the burning in my throat reached fever pitch again. I tugged at the bonds that were holding me, as Bella moved quickly away.

"Catherine, just let instinct take over. You know what your body wants you to do. It may seem . . . strange at first, but you need to do this. Are you ready?" Bella coached from the sidelines.

I looked over at her. "I think so."

Edward spoke from behind me. "Okay. Jasper and I are going to let go, but Emmett will still help you. Emmett, take my place and hold onto her. Do not, under any circumstances, let her go."

"Don't worry, Edward. I got her."

I felt the loosening of their hands on me, until only a very strong and large set around my waist were my only barriers to what I wanted most. I pulled toward it, dropping on my knees, pulling Emmett with me. I knew I was stronger than him, that I could pull away from him so easily, but something else made me want to cooperate.

All I needed was one millisecond glance at the animal in front of me.

_Drink._

Before I knew it, the sweet nectar was flowing down my throat, the animal in my hands, my teeth in what I could only describe as the perfect spot. It had happened so fast, the instinct taking over. I didn't know why I wanted it. I didn't know how I knew the precise spot to get it. _I just knew_.

I sensed the animal's fear in its last moments, feeling the last vestiges of what semblance of life it had before Alice and Rose and brought it to me. Something that must have been residual of the previous me wanted to vomit. Part of me felt guilty for needing it so badly, another part couldn't get enough. But the feeling of the warm liquid gliding down my throat, lessening the burning, overcame any thought of stopping.

I drank until there was nothing left, and its heart beat its last, letting the animal fall from my hands.

A momentary satisfaction came across me. I had just gorged on the blood from an animal. Warm, thick, delicious blood. I wanted more.

As if reading my mind, Rose and Alice had already found another and laid it in front of me like a giant feast at Christmas. I grabbed for it greedily, and drained it in the time it took to move the previous carcass.

I sat back into Emmett's lap, feeling the warm liquid slosh through me, his hands still around my stomach. As I glanced down, I saw blood all over the front of me, droplets and pools staining the pink nightshirt I was wearing. Then, I saw the drops of blood on Emmett's hands. They were bigger than Charlie's.

Charlie.

_"Edward?"_

_"Yes, I'm here." _As he thought his response, he came and knelt next to me.

_"Charlie is . . . he's becoming . . ." _My eyes met his, and I noticed their color, that same golden amber as Bella's, as all of them . . . as the _monster_.

_"Yes, Catherine. It was his decision. He couldn't live without you."_

My head dropped down as I closed my eyes. My body nearly went limp, Emmett's hands tightening in response.

_"How could Charlie want me? How could he after? How could he choose . . . this?"_

_"He loves you, Catherine. Truly. It's the one thing you can be sure of."_

No. There was only one thing I was sure of, and the realization came over me like a tidal wave. The disgust, the humiliation bore a hole through my very core, as the memory of what had happened to me seared through me like the monster's own teeth. Charlie had seen it all . . . had been forced to watch through his own pain and torture. How could he ever look at me again and not remember? How could he not turn away from me in disgust?

_"No, Edward. There's only one thing I'm sure of." _I rocked onto my feet and started to stand. As much as Emmett tried to hold me down, I just pulled him up with me.

_"I'm now exactly like the monster who'd tortured me, who raped me, who . . . made me this way."_

"Emmett! Edward!" Alice yelled.

The split-second distraction was all I needed as I tore through Emmett's grasp like I was being held by a child . . . and ran.

* * *

A/N:

Catherine's on the run, leaving Charlie behind. Hmmm.

If you'd care to, let me know what you think. If not, that's ok too.

As always, thanks for reading!


	21. Chapter 21

Gah! I apologize profusely for the long-ass delay in this chapter. It was, if you will, the result of "the perfect storm." Between RL sending me to the ER, to subsequent and unexpected work-related strife, to the simple fact that I started to post a new fic, and didn't know the rule about having only one chapter in the queue at a time.

Can you tell I have a very negative response to rules in general? Yeah. ;D

I also want to send a shout-out some tweeps who helped me through a rough time recently: JaspersIzzy, BigRedImp, HammerHips, darkNnerdy, ScuitoLover, and stitch_cat. These tweeps give some of the funniest shit you'll ever see in Twitterville, and without them, I might have left fandom.

Oh, and if you love crackfic, you simply MUST read the girls over at Whitlock Harem blog's take on cliches in ff. The stitch I had in my side for a half an hour was just proof that it is simply one of the most hilarious things I've ever read. You can find "Virginal Dominatrix of Love" here on ff.

I guess that's enough bs from me. Oh, and thanks to my ever-faithful beta, Jenny Cullen, who for some reason keeps with me, even though I'm sure I've driven her utterly insane by now.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight, except for 4 copies of the books, two DVDs, 2 t-shirts, genuine Rob and Kristen autographed movie art, an autographed Twilight script, and one...immensely entertaining and dreamy CardboardWard.

Without further adieu, here is Chapter 21...

* * *

**Chapter 21**

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op 18: Moderato

**CharliePOV**

Holy fucking FUCK!

It didn't just hurt. I didn't just _burn_. It _raged_ like a motherfucker. Oh, I screamed, wailed like a goddamn madman, or at least I think I did, but most of the time, I don't think it made it past my grinding teeth. My neck muscles pulled and stretched, but the sound didn't seem nearly as loud as I felt it was. My insides were on fire, and not just some backyard, marshmallow-roasting kind, but the inside of a fucking furnace, the shit flowing through me like fresh lava spewing from a volcano. I knew my body was twisting, buckling, chucking, but it didn't matter, because nothing made the fire go away.

Sometimes, I could hear Carlisle, but whatever he was saying came out like he was underwater. I knew Esme was close, too, if only because I recognized her voice, her gentle hands in comparison to the size of Carlisle's. That is, until the fires swelled and my body sprang up in protest, and I couldn't distinguish between the strength of either one of them.

I kept trying to focus on Catherine. If it hadn't already been on its way, my heart would've stopped dead, as I now understood what she had felt, what she had endured, and I let go with another cry. One part of me knew for sure that if she saw me like this, she would flip. But the other part, the selfish part, wanted her next to me, so I could feel her small hand in mine, to give me reason, to not lose myself in the pain that was threatening my grip on what little sanity I had.

Three more days of this? Or was it two? How long had it been? Was someone timing me? Please, someone shout out an update!

Stronger, larger hands now pushed on my chest, and I assumed they were Carlisle's. I couldn't tell anymore, and I didn't give a fuck. I remembered Catherine, being by her side, holding her hand, watching her squirm and scream, and how I couldn't fathom what she had been going through at the time.

But now I knew.

"Cath . . ." This time I'd made the sound. Through my teeth, I was sure I'd said her name.

My mind weakly held on, feeling like I was going to crack with the burn. If I had gone first, if I had been me that had gotten bitten, I would never have let her go through this. Edward's description of it being like "fire through your veins," was not nearly hot enough.

_Catherine._

The last glance at her face as Bella and the boys pulled her from the room . . . the last image my mind was able to process, was the color of her eyes. They had been a bright red, not my beautiful stormy blues, and it hit me that mine would be that way, too. The look she gave me, and then Carlisle, shook me, and I thought for a moment that she would throw him off me. Or worse, tear into me. I just hoped the boys and Bella got her out, somewhere safe.

_Just hold on, Catherine._ Dammit, I needed to be with her.

I needed her. I needed to hear her voice. I needed to feel her touch.

Until I felt the flames surge, my brain seemingly shutting off with the force of my scream.

**CathPOV**

I was running. Fast. Faster than I'd ever dreamed possible. It was nearly like flying, but not. I knew I was _moving_, the trees and brush went by, but I maneuvered and avoided them like they were elements on an obstacle course for a kid. The amazing thing was, I could still take in everything around me. _See_ everything around me. I started to challenge myself when I realized that this _thing_ I had become had incredible strength and speed, so I purposely jumped high up into the farthest tree branches, then down again, improving my landing each time, until it was nearly as soft as a feather.

The thrill with what I could do briefly overtook the aversion to just why I could do it.

I didn't want to think about the Cullens, about what I was, about _anything _anymore. I didn't want to feel this overwhelming urge to drink from everything in sight, to kill them with my bare hands. But I did. I drank from animals I never knew existed, not even knowing what they were, but their flavor was . . . off. It was like having ground chuck when I really wanted a filet, or a cheap cup of coffee over a distinctive Brazilian roast. But I kept running. Running to desperately try to eliminate all thought, all memory, of what had happened, of what I had become.

"Fuuuck!" I shouted into the air, not caring who heard.

My head swam with incoherency, no thought lasting long enough except for the absolute necessity to run farther and faster, and to drain whatever I came across. I could hear the creatures before they even had a chance, the thought fucking so badly with my brain, I stopped mid-kill to swallow the realization, rather than the blood of another one of those antlered things I had feasted on before. Remembering the scene, the Cullens, and their willingness to help me, made the desire to flee once again rear its demanding head.

I pushed down a tree because I could, my anger manifesting itself in a show of force that when I stopped to think about it, felt _good_. I sent my arms through a few, sawing them in half, only taking the time to look at my skin to see if there was any damage. Nothing. I punched my fist through a particularly large trunk, randomly justifying that some squirrel or other animal could come and make it his home.

I ran so far and so fast, I had no idea where I was. The Cullens were still there, their murmurings in my head like a buzzing drone. They were still following me, and would keep following me. Their thoughts and voices gave away their plans and their location. Edward mentioned Jacob and _the pack_, which briefly made me wonder what the hell he was talking about. I could recognize their scents from when they held me captive, and only had to sniff my arms to recognize Jasper and Emmett. They were worried, _really _worried, I would run across a person, a human, and that I would-

I stopped running for a moment and let the thought sink in. If I ran across a human, what would I do? Even after all the blood that I had consumed, a small ache in the back of my throat surged hotter, remembering the delicious aroma that had come from that room, where . . .

No, I wasn't going to think about it.

_"Edward, she's headed east and going to try and lose us. She's going to think about swimming for it."_ That was the little one, with the short brown hair. Alice.

It was Edward's voice in my head that broke through louder than the others, though.

"_That's why you need to let us help you,_ _Catherine. You're struggling to keep rational. Please stop. Please. Bella and I . . ."_

I suddenly struck me that it was only Bella's voice that I didn't hear, and for the life of me, I didn't know why. I could only identify when Edward or the others would talk to her, hearing her replies through them.

_"Can you still hear her?" _

Edward must have given her some sort of indication without sound, but in his head, he told me yes. _Works both ways, Eddie boy._

_"Edward, we can't stop until we find her."_

_"We will, Bella. We will."_

Their conversations momentarily brought on more of the guilt, almost as if I should stop. As fast as the feeling flowed through me, though, it was overrun by something even more lost, more hopeless, but as soon as I gave words to the feeling, it became a nearly suffocating rage. My overwhelming urge to get away from every voice, every person, every_thing_, pushed me onward. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care. I swam through a lake to try and hide my trail, noticing that the water didn't feel cold. Realizing that even wet through, I didn't feel the least bit chilled. I swam through another, remembering from movies that this worked with bloodhounds, laughing out loud at the thought. Hopefully it worked with vampires, too.

I kept going and going until their voices became a muted hush, although Edward's still came through the loudest, the clearest. I didn't want to hear him anymore, his begging me to come back, his attempt at some mindfuck mojo that would make me feel better.

_"Mindfuck mojo?"_ Edward's shock at my vocabulary pissed me off even more.

_"Get out of my head!"_ I mindscreamed to him.

It finally hit me. I could hear them, hear _everything_ that went through their minds. The conversations during...I guess I would call it _the change_, the euphemism almost comical if not for the situation. Could all vampires do that?

_"No, just you and me."_ Gee, thanks, Eddieboy, for the clue.

_"No problem, and please don't call me Eddieboy."_ He gave me a glimpse of a time, what looked like the _last_ time, Emmett called him that very same name, and a glimpse of someone that Emmett called Esme not happy about the state of a flowergardern.

Vampires. I still couldn't wrap my ahead around it. Bella, Edward, the Cullens were all vampires. _I_ was a vampire. Charlie was becoming a . . .

Charlie.

I stopped as I broke through a treeline and realized I was on the edge of a cliff, looking out over what I could only assume was the Pacific Ocean, but the view much different than the one that had been from my cabin and the beach. Glancing down, I finally surveyed the clothes I was wearing-just a wet pink nightshirt splattered with faint bloodstains that reached the middle of my thighs, and underwear underneath. Someone had obviously taken the time to dress me, although I didn't know who, but something told me it was the voice that sounded . . . motherly. I didn't even know her name, but I guessed it was Esme. Edward had said that Carlisle and Esme had stayed behind with Charlie.

My mom. Bits and pieces of memories of my family played like a blurry movie. Images, scenes, pictures flashed as if covered in a fog as I tried to focus. I knew I _needed _to remember, if only to recover that part of me that seemed to be slipping away. If the Cullens were worried about me running into a nameless stranger, something told me that seeing my family again would be . . . difficult.

"Cath . . ."

The faint sound wafted through the trees, my head spinning around to listen for more. Stinging tendrils pricked at my skin as if it were reflected off the branches, the sensation baffling, because it was coming _to_ me rather than from within me.

"Charlie," I whispered into the air, not able to distinguish whether the voice I heard was his or the wind.

_"I love you, Catherine O'Hara. Every inch of you."_

The memory came out of the blue, his words a speck of white on a dark, black sea, the expression on his face as he spoke them, and the feel of his coarse hands on my cheeks as he said them. I heard Edward gasp, Bella asking him what he'd heard.

_"Catherine, if that isn't reason enough to come back to us,"_ Edward tried to rationalize with me.

"A reason," I whispered again.

If I were to keep running, I was leaving Charlie behind. I might never see him again, and the pain of that thought was too much to bear. I dropped my head into my hands, wanting to cry the tears of a million oceans, but they wouldn't come. _Why?_ I gasped as my muscles seized and dry, wrenching sobs racked my body, unable to control the wails I didn't want anyone to hear. Charlie was back at the Cullens, turning into one of these . . . these . . .

_Vampires_. They weren't some mythical or fictional creation of some horror writer. They were real. One had . . . I pictured his face above me that last moment, of what he had done, and my cries ceased. I stood transfixed. Why had this happened to me? Why had some vampire chosen me, and Charlie, to torture? Did he know of the Cullens? Was this in answer to something they had done?

_"We need to figure that out, Catherine, and we need you with us to help_. _We didn't know him,_" Edward said in my head again.

_"Why can't you shut-up? Why can I hear you? Why can I hear everyone but Bella?"_ The questions flew from my head.

_"Come back, and I'll explain,"_ Edward calmly replied.

I looked back out across the water when the thought struck me. What about Charlie? He wasn't . . . he hadn't been one of them. But his own daughter? Did he know about her? Renesmee, Edward, _all_ of them? I watched what looked to be a whale frolicking in the water, amazed because I'd never seen one before, shocked that I could see it clearly now, and the momentary distraction stopped the questions from firing. It was all too much, and if I kept running, if I got away, I would never know any of the answers.

A weak voice in my head struggled to be heard.

_Listen to them._

_Stop. _

What they must think of me. I slumped down cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, wondering if I just jumped . . . Could I just end it all now? Would I die if I hit smackdab on some of those rocks below me? Probably not. If I was able to leap tall trees in a single bound, something told me I could do a lovely half-gainer and not even come close. My hands flew to the sides of my head, squeezing it like a vice, trying to push away what was left of the noise. It never truly went away.

A strange scent wafted in from the left of me, and I was instantly on my feet. I'd caught faint gusts of it while I was running, and thought it was just a dead decaying animal or vegetation. It was . . . disgusting, like a wet mangy dog and rotting garbage all rolled into one . . .

It was getting closer. It was something, and there was more than one.

I looked behind me back out into the water. I didn't know how far the jump was, I was never good at distances, but comparing it to a building, it was at least five stories. I could always swim for it...

_"Don't think anything to scare her."_ The voice came to me, a male, and it was one I didn't recognize.

I turned back around when I sensed what was ever coming near me was close. What the hell _was_ that?

_"Catherine. Do not move. I know you can still hear me. Whatever you do, do not jump into the water. We're coming. What you're about to see . . ."_

Before I heard what Edward was going to say, I saw them. Three of them. Three of the biggest, hairiest beasts I had ever seen were slowly making there way toward me.

_"There, on the cliff_."

Another new voice penetrated my thoughts. Who was _that_?

A small part of me thought I should be scared. They moved slowly, like they were tiptoeing, their heads dangling low to the ground as if in supplication. If they had been upright, I'd a guessed they were at least six feet tall, one even taller than that. At first, I thought they were gigantic dogs, but their fur, the shape of their heads . . . No.

Holy shitfire, they were _wolves_!

The other part of me, the stronger half, wanted to attack. I crouched down instinctually, recognizing the stance again from what I had done in the bedroom as some automatic vampire-defensive maneuver. I felt my animosity build into something fiercer, something inside me identifying that they were enemies, and my stance grew more offensive.

_"Catherine, I'm Jacob. Don't be af-"_

_Wait. What?_ I stood up straighter, stunned. You've got to be fucking kidding me. Did one of those gigantic things just try to speak to me . . . in my head?

_"Jake, she's a newborn. You can't talk to her like you're talking to any of the other Cullens." _

They knew the Cullens?

There was no way I was sticking around for the rest of this conversation. I wasn't stupid. Even knowing my strength, three against one told me the odds weren't in my favor. So I took off like a bat out of hell, running back the way I'd come, but at a forty-five degree angle north so as to avoid the Cullens. I could outrun these God-awful, smelly things, just as I'd been able to leave the Cullens in my dust.

**CharliePOV**

"Errr!" My vocal chords vibrated, my tongue pressed against the back of my teeth. I tried to hold it in; I tried to be a man.

Hell, I was a _cop_. My guys would think I was a complete pansy if they heard me yelling the way I was. I should be able to take this.

But the fucking truth was, this was nothing like an ass-kicking, or even a gunshot. It was nothing like I'd ever felt before, and it wouldn't quit. It never let up. How the hell did Catherine last through this? Edward said she had thought she was in hell. Hell had nothing on this inferno.

Shit, she had thought she was in hell, and I couldn't help but moan. _Baby, what you must have thought, how you must have been near crazy not knowing what was happening to you._

"Charlie, it's Esme. Carlisle and I are here with you." A cool, soft hand rubbed gently across the top of my own. The fire burned still, even hotter, and I didn't know how much longer I could take it.

_Catherine. Where are you? Why can't I hear you? Why can't I feel you? Are you even here?_

It was then that even through the firestorm that was raging through me, I started to panic.

"Carlisle?" Esme's soft voice somehow got through the roaring in my ears again, and more hands held me down as my body started to jolt. But I knew they weren't Catherine's, as their strength and size told me they were once again Carlisle's.

_Where the hell are you, Catherine?_

"Cath!" I forced her name once again through my teeth, hoping that she heard, searching for her voice, needing her touch.

But it didn't come, and the scream that I let go with wasn't entirely from the pain of being burned alive.

**CathPOV**

Wolves? As I ran from them, I wondered if my fucked up head was just trying to play tricks on me. No, they were real. They were real, because I could smell their stench even before they were in front of my eyes. But as the trees and underbrush flew by, and my feet sped faster through them, thoughts of the last time I was running away, running for my life came barraging at me all at once. The greenery ahead of me suddenly transformed into a familiar path, one I had been on the other day, the day I went hiking.

The day _he_ had appeared.

I glanced back, and the wolves were no longer there. They had been replaced by a person, a person chasing me wearing jeans and blue hoodie, his blond hair and face no longer obscured.

It was _him_. His face twisted into that terrifying smile, his legs and body skillfully dashing through the trees with a speed seemingly faster than me, and the distance between us dwindled. I realized I was scampering backwards, and nearly lost my footing turning forward again. I followed the path in front of me, looking for the edge of the treeline, because my knight would be there. Knowing it was him I would find, I ran even faster. Charlie would be there, waiting for me . . .

It was too late when I realized they surrounded me, their distinguishing scents coming at me from all sides. I turned back around once more, and it was Damian menacingly approaching, his hand outstretched as if to beckon me to him triggering unnecessary breaths in a fit of panic.

_"Jake, Sam, Seth, hold your ground. She's terrified."_ Edward was giving instructions to someone, but I didn't have time to process.

Damian's eyes held mine, and I couldn't look away, my feet stepping backward as he stepped forward. The Cullens were getting closer, their worry prevalent in the thoughts that were shooting into my head, mixing with the fear that threatened to possess me, making me almost dizzy. I couldn't look away from Damian, I couldn't move as he stepped forward still, but in a moment of clarity, I decided I didn't care anymore. The Cullens were here. They would help me.

They would kill Damian.

And I would help them do it.

"Bella, she's seeing _him_ and not the _wolves_." Not just Edward's voice speaking, but a gasp of a female off to the left of me said they were near.

"Catherine?" Bella voice softly whispered as she stopped two feet behind me.

Edward's voice came from behind Bella's. "Catherine, he's not there. We already destroyed him. He _can't _hurt you anymore." As he spoke, I could feel the truth behind the words, mixed with his concern for me.

_We already destroyed him, _his words repeated in my head this time. I wasn't sure if it was him repeating himself, or my mind just replaying what he had said, but the monster began to fade slowly, his edges softening, his smile fading, until he just disappeared, and through the spot from where he had taunted me, I now stared at the three gigantic wolves.

I squeezed my eyes shut and held my head between my hands again, shaking it as if doing so would knock everything back into place. Damian wasn't real. He was gone. Edward had said so. Were the wolves?

_"Sheesh, she's in bad shape."_

_"Shut it, Seth. She can hear you."_

_"Crap, you're right. Sorry."_

_"Sure, but shut the hell up. Hey, Catherine, my name is Jacob. I know you can hear me, because Edward said you can just like he does. We're not going to attack you or anything. We're just here to help the Cullens . . . and you. I know we're big wolves and all, but you don't need to be afraid of us."_

My eyes shot up to see the center wolf walk forward as he spoke. I felt my underlying dislike for them, like I should _want_ to attack them. But I had heard them _speak-_words, English, and in my head. They were telling the truth and were here to help the Cullens . . . with me. I could hear them the same as I could hear everyone else.

How was that possible?

Jacob. Jacob had been the guy talking to Edward and Bella, but I was _preeetty_ sure he hadn't been a huge wolf when he had been in the house.

I kept staring straight ahead. "Bella, is that really you behind me? Are you all really here? Or . . . or am I losing my mind?"

I felt rather than saw Bella's half step toward me. "It's us, Catherine. We're here. And yes, those are wolves in front of you. But they're friends. Good friends. I've known Jacob since I was kid."

_"Man, I hope she doesn't go all Rambo on Jake. Nessie would be pissed."_ Again, Mr. Kinda-Hot Emmett. I glanced to my left where Emmet was standing, and he took his eyes off the wolves to look back at me. His hands went palm up from his sides, and his mouth formed the word, "What?" questioning me.

I stopped to think about what I'd just heard him say. "Could I really go all Rambo on him?" I asked him out loud.

"Emmett," Edward said as if a warning behind me.

"Well, yeah, you could try . . ." Rosalie was by his side before he finished, and the smack she gave him to the back of the head echoed around us all.

"Dammit, Emmett!"

The gesture was almost comical, if I weren't feeling panicked, confused, and what I thought might be something like a psychotic break. The Cullens' thoughts were all jumbling in my head, but I could feel their concern, and for the first time, I _wanted_ to believe in it.

Movements from the corner of my eye made me whip my head back to the wolves, which were slowly retreating back into the forest, their eyes not leaving me. My body started to relax, and my limbs started to feel heavy.

"Jacob, Sam, and Seth, are going to change back into human form. What you're feeling is Jasper. He's able to help calm you. Don't fight it." I sensed Edward's steps forward as he came to stand next to Bella. They were both behind me now.

"Catherine, Damian is gone. The boys and Rose ripped him to pieces and burned him into oblivion. He won't be coming back for you. We want to take you home. Charlie . . . is there." Bella took another half-step forward as I turned slowly around.

_Charlie. _

Charlie was suffering what I had just gone through, and I wasn't there for him. It became clear that he had been near me, holding my hand, speaking sweet, loving words to me as I had endured what I thought had been the fires of hell. He was in the greatest pain, and I was . . . I was running away from him. From all of them.

_How stupid could I be?_

"You're _not _stupid, Catherine. You're a newborn vampire. Your emotional state would be wild and uncontrolled, even if you hadn't gone through what you did. There's much we need to tell you, to teach you." Even though part of me didn't want to believe him, Edward's words made sense.

I glanced at him as he spoke, then back at Bella, and caught Jasper and Alice off to Bella's right in the distance. I recognized their skittishness to get any closer from the thoughts they couldn't keep from me, neither one trusting me nor wanting the other to get hurt, but also something about doing it for my benefit-not wanting to spook me. My eyes shifted over to Rosalie and Emmett. Rosalie took his hand and led him towards me. The big guy was having second thoughts about Rose's proximity to me as well.

I turned back to focus on Edward and Bella. "How long . . . how long will I be like this? Wild? Uncontrolled?" I searched Bella's face and then Edward's.

"A while," Edward answered.

Rosalie walked up to me then, leaving Emmett standing a short distance behind her. "But you're not alone, Catherine. You've already learned the most important lesson, and that's feeding. You see, we're what we like to call vegetarians."

"Vegetarians?"

"Yes. We only feed off the blood of animals. Not humans. It's one of the reasons we were so afraid when you left us. Newborns aren't . . . well, let's just say newborns and humans aren't a good combination." Rosalie half-smiled.

"I think I can understand why," I said, nodding my head.

_"Edward, Catherine, we're going to go back to the Rez. Things seem to be okay here. Catherine, I'll come by the house later to meet you. Hopefully, I won't freak you out then."_ It was Jacob. I felt the humor behind those last words. Yeah, hopefully.

_"Catherine, Seth and I will have to say hello some other time as well. Hope that's okay."_ Deduction told me that had been Sam, but as he said it, a sudden image of the three of them turning, changing . . .

"Wow." Where the three gigantic wolves had been were now three men. Three very naked men, all with glistening brown skin, toned bodies, and rather sufficient . . . appendages. I tried to wipe the image away, attempting to focus on anything, anyone around me.

_"Catherine, whatever you do, don't tell Charlie you just saw that."_ I looked up at Edward as I heard him, and there was slight grin on his face.

"Yeah, right." Like I was ever going to forget that image. Edward just shook his head at me.

"'What?" Bella asked.

"Nothing. I mean, don't worry about it." I tried to answer her, and I heard Emmett's chuckling and even Jasper's snort.

"Okay, okay. Yeah, I saw them change . . . into . . . They didn't have any clothes on. Are you happy?" The look I gave Emmett made his hand come up to cover his mouth, and his laughter stop.

I started to get uncomfortable again. Agitated. Any other time, my old self would have found this kind of funny, hilarious even, but it was like I couldn't find her. It was if she was prisoner inside me. I knew she was still there, but everything that had happened had forced her into a hiding place that I had yet to discover. I wanted her back.

"Jasper . . ." Edward flicked his head to the side, not taking his eyes off of me.

"I'm on it," Jasper answered him, and again, I felt that familiar peaceful sensation, and even a smidge of humor. Whatever Jasper was doing, it was helping.

I looked over at him. "Jasper, what is it you're doing to me exactly?"

Alice ran up to me finally, stopping just short of my dance space. "Jasper can control the emotions of those around him. It comes in handy sometimes, like now." She smiled at me. Jasper still stood a good six feet from me, apparently not wanting to join the others yet, or not trusting me enough to, as Emmett had so eloquently put it, "not go all Rambo" on him.

"Sorry, Catherine. I, uh, have a history with newborns," he said as he walked up to stand protectively in front of Alice.

_"You're right about Jasper and trust issues,"_ Edward hinted to me.

"But I think you might be over the worst of it," Jasper continued to speak. "With my help, and everyone here, I think we can get you through this."

Another wave from Jasper came over me, momentarily freeing my mind of the chaos that had been. Jasper was a godsend for whatever was warring inside me. "Thank you, Jasper. It feels . . . I _think_ I feel better," I said, glancing up at him, momentarily too embarrassed to hold eye contact.

"I . . . I'm sorry. To all of you." I found a strange beetle crawling at my feet and concentrated on it. "I'm sorry for running away. I'm sorry for being . . . for being a pain in the ass. I just didn't . . . I still can't think straight, and I still feel somewhere inside I'm going to pop like a wild banshee." Crossing my arms around me, I tried to hold it in.

"No problem, Cath. We've all been there." Emmett chuckled as he walked up.

My eye caught his arm reaching out as if to put his hand on my shoulder, but even before feeling it, I jumped back, taking me at least twenty feet from where I'd been. I had reacted so quickly, the thought process of why I jumped didn't even register.

"Catherine, please don't run again," Rosalie begged, grabbing Emmett's hand and pulling him backward.

I could hear all of them, their collective hope, that I wouldn't disappear again, their pleas nearly deafening.

"I'm . . . I'm not. I just don't want you all to . . . hold me again . . . right now. It kind of freaks me out," I said, looking down, unable to fully understand my reaction myself. "I'm sorry, I don't know . . ." I shook my head, and turned my back to them.

The problem was part of me _did _want to run again, though, the feeling whooshing through me reaching out to smother any thought of remaining. I tried to push it away, back in some deep dark corner where it belonged, to make room for the part of me wanting to run back to them, to stay. A semblance of logic said it _would be_ safer with them, and I fought like hell to listen to it.

_"That's good, Catherine. Recognizing that side will help you learn how to fight it,"_ Edward supported.

_Try to focus on what's good and right_. Bella's voice came back to me. I turned back to her now. Bella. Charlie's daughter. I needed to do this, to overcome this, for her, for all of them . . .

For Charlie.

"Bella . . ." I began walking back to her, stopping one step in front of her, just far enough away to maintain my now recognizable comfort level. "I wanna go back. I think. I need to see Charlie. Can I? I just want to make sure he's okay."

The asking made my heart ache, or what had once been my heart, and my hand went to my chest, where the thumping of it should be. But beating or non-beating, it still belonged to him. I wanted to be near him, at least I thought I did, because he needed _me_ now. Needed to know I was there, needed to hear my voice, exactly like he'd been for me. I simply had to somehow overcome the madness. I had to find the strength.

_Never let me go._

I had to try.

**BellaPOV**

Catherine met me eye-to-eye, the ache for Charlie probably more evident to me in the expression on her face than even inside her own head. She seemed better now, almost controlled, but there just was no way of knowing. She had gone from calm to frantic, reserved to panic so many times in the last hours, I couldn't be sure what would happen next. As much as it hurt me to keep them apart, I just didn't know what her reaction would be to seeing Charlie.

I threw my shield over Edward.

_"What do you think, Edward?"_ I asked in my head, first glancing at Catherine and then up at him. He turned slightly to face me, and I could see him running through scenarios in his head, not even sure himself.

_"I don't know, Bella. She could be fine, she could react, she could ..."_ He didn't have to say the last part, as I caught a glimpse of Catherine at Charlie's neck, our collective arms not able to hold her back.

"Catherine, it might be dangerous to see him, even still." I reached out my hand, and then quickly pulled it back, remembering Emmett and her reaction. Her head lowered, as she wrung her hands together.

"I... I know." Her eyes slowly came up from the forest floor to look at Edward, mixed with both uncertainty and earnestness. "Edward, you...you can help me, right? You can see if my head starts to whack out? Maybe, get me away before I could...do anything to him?"

Alice chose this moment to slowly come around from behind Jasper and stand next to Catherine, but at arm's length. "I could help. Edward, I haven't seen anything to indicate things would go . . . badly." Alice smiled a sheepish smile at Catherine and tilted her head ever so slightly to Edward, as if to reinforce her plea.

Edward didn't answer her right away, which allowed me to see through him what Alice had seen. Although Alice's glimpses seemed harmless enough, Catherine's lightening-quick changes in disposition so far didn't bode well for Alice's being able to see anything, really, so I retracted my shield.

Catherine glanced over to Alice. "I don't understand. What do you mean you haven't seen-"

"I can see the future." Alice bounced in place as she said it, her attempt at a little smile of reassurance seemed only to confuse Catherine.

"Oh," Catherine simply said, seemingly pausing to comprehend, and then looked at each of us. "So, Ed, you can read my mind. Jasper, you do something funky with my feelings, and Alice, you can see the future." She nodded over to Rosalie and Emmett. "What about you two? Please don't tell me you shoot fireballs from your hands, or have x-ray vision or something."

Emmett busted out laughing. "Nope, Rose and I don't have any abilities." Even Rosalie smiled.

Catherine turned to me. "Bella, what about you? I've already figured out yours is the only head I don't hear."

I tried to explain the best I could. "I'm what they call a shield, Catherine. I can protect people with it from others who would manipulate the mind. I can also hear what's in other people's heads when my shield is over them."

Catherine's hand went to her forehead, her fingers slowly rubbing across it. "I feel like I should have a headache, even though I don't." Catherine glanced up at Edward, and something was shared between them as Edward nodded his head.

Rosalie suddenly left Emmett's side to stand with Catherine. "Edward, Catherine needs to see Charlie. If we're all there, she'll be fine. Charlie should be well past the initial stage, and we'll all be there if something should happen. Besides, none of you could keep me from Emmett's side when he was turned." Rosalie then turned to look at Catherine. "She needs to be there for him, like he was for her." She nodded her head in an _it will be okay_ fashion.

Although Catherine answered with a smile back to Rosalie, she didn't seem as convinced of what Rose had just said, as her smile slowly faded.

"Thanks, Rose. I'm...I'm glad _you_ think so." Catherine hesitated for just a moment. "Jasper? You'll be there, right?"

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." Jasper smiled as Alice took his hand in hers.

"C'mon, bro," Emmett finally piped in, stepping closer to us and to Edward. "She'll be fine."

"Like she was when I told you to hold onto her before?" Edward challenged. We all stood still, waiting for Emmett's reaction, but it was Catherine's snort that had everyone turning to her.

"Yes, by the way, about that." She stepped past Rosalie and walked over near Emmett, stopping just next to him. "Is that the best you got, big guy? Cuz, if I remember correctly, I slipped out of your hands like they belonged to a little girl."

It was at that moment I wished I had a camera, if only to capture the extreme shock and embarrassment on Emmett's face. Rosalie's laugh rang out first, followed by the rest of us, including a whoop from Jasper. Even Edward cracked a smile.

"Emmett, I believe you've just been put in your place by an older woman," Jasper politely delivered.

"Yeah, well, she's a newborn, and-"

"Emmett." Rosalie cut him off with a whack of the back of her hand to his gut.

Edward took the opportunity to walk over and stand in front of Catherine, clasping his hands together as if he, too, realized that physically reaching out to her would be a mistake. "I know you're still confused, Catherine. I can hear it. But I know one thing, if that were Bella in there, you couldn't keep me away. So between Alice and I, and the rest of us, we'll help you. He's calling for you."

Catherine stood for a moment, scanning the ground as if she were trying to think or to listen. I wasn't quite sure. She glanced up at Edward, and they seemed to share a moment of something that actually brought another slight smile to Catherine's face, and a nod of her head.

"Okay, well, if you will all be there, then I'll try." Catherine eyes left Edward's and scanned the rest of us. But it didn't escape me that as she turned to go back, the corners of her mouth drifted down, and the smile that had been, slowly disappeared.

* * *

A/N:

So, was it worth the wait? I truly appreciate all of you who are sticking with me, and all of your lovely reviews. I should have more for you sooner this time, since the next 3 chapters are already in their bare bones form.

Thanks so much again for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

Another long one, my friends. I believe at 9750 words exactly, this should help ease the pain of too long a wait for an update. I've been told to warn for Kleenex factor, keep a box near. ;)

I MUST bow down and give thanks to my new bet...I mean my new Pufferfish. She doesn't want me to call her that term that we all use for people who read, edit, help us polish, and knock our socks off with their suggestions. I would be speaking of HammerHips. If she played a riff on stage and then threw me her guitar pick, I'd suck on it for eternity. So I've dubbed her my Pufferfish.

Thanks, yet again, to Jenny Cullen for sticking with me. Jenny, your life should be much easier now. ;)

Enough from me. Just make sure your behind is planted someplace comfy...

* * *

**Chapter 22**

Dvořák, String Quartet #12 In F, Op. 96, "American" - 2. Lento

**CathPOV**

Finding my way back to the house was easier than I thought it would be, although my senses were reeling again, my attention relentlessly diverted by something new. The Cullens let me lead, forming a half-circle safety perimeter well to the sides and far behind me. At first I thought it was strange, but then I just figured they were trying to keep me from running away again; probably a good decision on their part. I only veered off once when I caught a whiff of something that overwhelmed me with necessity, changing my direction. Knowing the need and sensing my own, they let me go to it. As I brought down the animal and fed, they all kept their distance; everyone but Bella and Edward, who waited and watched fifty yards away from where I was. They were close, but not _too_ close. While Edward's thoughts led me to believe their intentions were nothing but good, their presence behind me made me feel I was a child, and they were the babysitters.

As the thick and satisfying blood rushed down my throat, I realized the more I fed, the better off my head would be and the safer I would feel with Charlie.

The safer he would be with me.

Running through the trees and the forest again, I struggled to keep the earlier images from resurfacing. The images of Damian's face and the wolves coming after me. I attempted to replace them with those of good and happy times with Charlie and our walk along the path behind his house. Glimpses of other memories: a boat, a baseball game, a gazebo, flashed arbitrarily, as if scattered like the thousand pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Deep inside me, they battled the darker force, momentarily being kept at bay with what seemed to be a cage made out of tin, rather than steel.

_"You have to keep working at it, Catherine. It will get easier after a while. Some human memories will fade after a time, but not if you don't want them to. Not if you don't let them,"_ Edward hinted softly through our connection.

I stopped abruptly, wincing as I heard Edward. I didn't want _all _of my human memories to fade, just some of the more _recent_ ones. The human memories were all I had to help me hold onto that part of me that I didn't want to lose, the part that still had a family. The part that had met a man, a cop, on the side of the road, and within a week he had touched that part of me that I had been positive no one would ever touch again. I needed them, if only to remember who I was, who I had been, what _we_ had been, and if we would still...be.

Edward and Bella approached me from behind, and I knew of their presence not so much by the sound, but by Edward's struggle in what to say to me after what he had just heard. I turned around and waited for them to catch up.

As they came into view, I asked, "Edward, you said back there that if I came back, you would explain why I can hear everyone...hear their thoughts."

"Yes, I did, didn't I?" His hand brushed through his hair, and I could make out quick images of when he first heard them, of when he first woke up. "Well...I don't know why actually, although my ability started after my change as well. Bella is the only person I've never been able to hear."

Bella's shield thingy, it kept me from her head, and apparently Edward as well.

But then it dawned on me. "What about Charlie? Will I be able to see into Charlie's head?"

Edward looked at Bella and then back at me, and a glimpse, a memory that Edward gave me let me see the answer. A scene that showed Edward, Bella, and someone else, Jacob, behind Charlie's house. Charlie bellowed from the door for Bella to come in, something about motorcycles. It was as if I could feel Charlie's anger, how pissed he was at Bella, through Edward, but that was it.

"I...I don't understand," I said, my eyes unfocused, still trying to grasp what Edward was showing me.

If Edward couldn't hear Charlie - I turned my head and looked in the general direction of the house, trying to tune the dial or whatever it was that enabled me to do this mindreading shit. Like a radio station from a different state, I could just pick up the worried thoughts of Carlisle and Esme, and Charlie lying on the bed as seen through what I assumed to be their eyes. Charlie, thrashing about, held down by them both. But try as I might, I could only hear the strains and cries that burst from him.

But then something hit me, like the ripples of destruction a few short miles from the epi-center of a nuclear bomb drop, a pain so intense I stumbled back a bit and gasped. Pain, wrapped in something I could only describe as longing. We had to be miles from the house still.

"Catherine?" Bella stepped forward, hand outstretched as if to catch me.

I held up my hand to her, still shaken. "It's okay, Bella."

My head whipped to Edward as he spoke. "I feel his general emotions, the feelings behind his thoughts, just not exactly the words. That's what you're getting, too, isn't it, Catherine?"

"You _felt_ that?" I asked, completely shocked.

Edward merely nodded.

"Edward." Bella suddenly glanced up at him, and he back at her, and I couldn't hear Edward anymore.

"You just used your shield, didn't you, Bella?" I asked her, a nod and a shy smile from her my answer.

"Huh. Interesting. It's like a fade to black and someone pressed the mute button or something." I looked up at Edward. "I'll bet that comes in handy, um, sometimes," I said through a smirk.

"Yes. Yes, it does." He smiled and looked at Bella, but Bella's gaze travelled beyond him, and we all looked as we heard Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper approaching, deciding to come closer from their guard-duty status.

I started to feel less and less sure of myself. I didn't know if it was the sudden appearance by the rest of them and their collective apprehension, or what I'd actually just experienced or seen - Charlie's pain or the sight of him on a bed.

A bed. He had been lying on a bed, being held down by hands and arms and changing into a vampire.

Before I could clear the thought, the room changed into another room. Charlie's body disappeared, and another bed materialized, the walls of my cabin taking form, until the monster was hovering over me again. My hands flew up to the sides of my head, my fingers twisted in my hair, and my eyes squeezed shut, as I tried to force the hallucination once again to go away.

"Catherine, don't..."

I could feel Edward inch toward me, but it was Rosalie's voice inches from my face that made me open my eyes.

"You need him, Catherine, and he needs you. We'll find a way to move past the memories. We will."

I opened my eyes to see Rosalie's concern. "Rose, how do you know, I mean...?" The sentence hung on my tongue, because just as she spoke, it dawned on me.

"We have similar experiences, Catherine, both haunting and horrible. Now's not the time for us to talk," she glanced behind me, "but we will." I knew it was Emmett answering her stare, not only because I could feel the pride oozing off of him, but because of words in his head, _"That's my girl."_

"Omigod, Rose. _You_?" This beautiful girl had been attacked by a vampire?

No, not a vampire, but a man, a _group_ of men, as I saw Rose's memories of that night. The man was her fiancé, the men his vile and nauseating friends. She tried to block the most gruesome parts from me, but it was as if it were a huge boulder rolling down a steep hill. The revelations kept coming, and I could feel her rising tension, the disgust with the memory, and even the pain she had felt.

"Rosalie!" I gasped.

_"Yes, Catherine. And Carlisle saved her, too."_ Edward's words in my head were almost like a whisper, they were so soft.

Rose slightly nodded as her gaze came back to mine, giving me glimpses of being alone and cold on what looked like a very old, Victorian street. And then all too brief indistinct images of someone picking her up and carrying her off, until the pain and fire started to course through her, and she shut the memories off. Speechlessness didn't describe it - dumbfounded, shocked, horrified, all applicable words for my feelings. But as I looked at her - stared at her really - I suddenly felt something, a sort-of kinship, a closeness. I wanted to reach out and touch her hand, but I didn't trust myself, so I held back.

Almost as if she knew, Rose suddenly said, "C'mon, Catherine. You and I will talk after you've seen Charlie."

"Rose, I..." I stammered, not knowing what to say.

"C'mon. I think you've kept him waiting long enough, don't you?" She smiled at me, holding her hand out toward the house to encourage me to lead again.

Not knowing what more to say, I started to run again.

We reached the back of the property moments later. Instead of fanning out again as we ran those last few miles, they all stayed relatively close, closer than they had been. Emmett's thoughts, when they weren't on me, kept turning to Rose, and the fierce way in which he would protect her. Jasper focused on me like a hawk, and Alice focused on him, or what were strange fuzzy images in which I thought I saw myself and someone else I couldn't make out.

I was faster than they all were, all but Edward, who seemed to keep pace behind me, with Bella not far behind. He hummed a melody that was uplifting and familiar. I could see the notes in his head as he envisioned them.

_"What song is that?" _I thought to him.

_"Copeland's Appalachian Spring Prelude. Why?"_

_"Mmmm. I recognized it. I have it on my phone." _

But even Edward's attempt to temper my anxiety with a tranquil background score didn't stop the questions that started to emerge. I suddenly stopped walking in the middle of the yard and turned to them, the one question that had been needling me since the cliff came to the forefront of my mind, winning out over the hundreds rattling around inside my head.

_Why us? Why Charlie? "_Why me?" I almost whispered, glancing to Bella and then at Edward.

"We don't know, Catherine," Edward spoke aloud, and then added silently only to me, _"We need to talk about it, but before we do, we need to make sure that you're...settled. We'll need to discuss the last week and that night. I'm not sure if you can handle that right now."_

I started walking again, Bella and Edward right behind me, until I reached the patio doors, and turned to face them.

"But why..." Unable to look at any of them when the ultimate question that had burning my psyche came to the forefront, I asked, "Why didn't you just let me die?" The words came out slowly in a hush, as the others gathered in closer, still keeping a safe distance. I could feel Jasper's influence, his thoughts giving away his struggle.

Bella stepped toward me. "Because, Catherine. Because my Dad asked us to do what we could. Charlie, he..." she shook her head, "he made the choice for you. Don't you see? He didn't want to live without you, he said it himself. It's why he chose this - to be like you, like us. He...he wanted to be with you, and this... this was the only way to keep you alive. For you both to be together."

Her words touched me like the softest hand on my shoulder, and for a brief moment, I welcomed it. I wasn't sure if it was Jasper's doing, or my own. Charlie had told them he wouldn't live without me, and had made that choice for me, for us. I wanted to be happy about it. I wanted to be grateful for it. But something wouldn't let me - an uneasy feeling. I wanted to be with Charlie, yes, but...now? How _could _he? How could _I_? How could we ever go back to what had been? How could we ever recover from this?

"Your living forever without him just wasn't an option," Emmett said from behind Rose.

My mind stopped firing questions as I heard Emmett's words. "What?" I gaped open-mouthed at him. "Living forever? Did you just say...You mean I can't...I won't?" With every pause, my eyes flew to each of them, finally stopping on Edward.

"You will be just as you are now for quite some time, yes," Edward answered.

For a moment, I thought that my body actually swayed, but I knew it hadn't, as understanding of the bombshell that just dropped on me sunk in. I was going to be a vampire. Forever. As was Charlie now. Just as I started to get overcome by the realization, a sense of relief flowed through me, and I knew Jasper was once again working overtime.

"I'm sorry, Jasper, that you have to work so hard at this. You must be exhausted."

"We really don't tire, Catherine, but I won't lie to you and say you're not a challenge." He never took his eyes from mine as he said it, but Alice's hand sliding into his and a brief _"Don't worry"_ thought from her made me feel better about what he had said.

"Catherine, we can talk about all of this, about everything you'd like and need to know, after you see Charlie, if you want." Bella walked up to me, extending her hand toward the patio doors, grasping the handle. "Are you okay? We can wait a little longer if you'd feel more comfortable." She smiled at me, though I couldn't return it.

Now, being so close, knowing Charlie was through the doors and up a short flight of stairs, I grew unsure again. I glanced at the doors, and then back behind me where the others still stood, their thoughts a jumbled concoction of concern and hope.

Rose stepped through the crowd. "Maybe a shower and some different clothes might help. I think you and I are the same size, Catherine."

It was at this moment that Alice stepped up, again bouncing on her tiptoes. "I think that's a great idea. It'll give you time to adjust to the house, and to...us." She smiled. "Rose and I will show you where the bathroom is, and then find you something to change into."

I had to admit a shower sounded like a good idea as I looked down at myself caked in mud, just now noticing that I was still wearing the bloody nightshirt with small rips and tears. I could only imagine what I looked like to them.

"Um, okay. Will Charlie be all-"

"Really, Cath. He's not going anywhere." Emmett grinned. "Let the girls help you get all prettied up before you see him." His playful expression didn't hide the image of myself that he gave me, and I inhaled sharply at the sight.

I turned to Bella, questioningly, nearly pleading for some guidance.

"Go with Alice and Rose. I'll go check on my Dad and then bring you to him when you're ready, okay?" She smiled to me. "You're in good hands when it comes to playing dress up, Catherine." She glanced over at Rose and Alice, and I felt like I was missing something, but glimpses of times when Alice dressed Bella flitted through Alice's mind, and I almost laughed seeing Bella looking pissed about it.

"We do have your things here, even the suitcase filled with-"

"No!" I said a little too loudly, cutting off Rose.

"I mean, I'm...I'm sorry. I just don't want to see that suitcase, or the things inside of it. Anything will do, really. Anything at all. Sweats, a t-shirt, whatever. But _not _those clothes." Jasper was working hard again, because just as fast as the fear that had risen up within me, it was now gradually being pushed out by peaceful serenity.

"We understand, Catherine." I glanced back at Edward, who had moved behind Bella.

"Okay, c'mon then. Let's get you into the shower." Alice came up from behind me, her hands just lightly brushing my shoulders, causing me to pull a foot away. All I could think of was at least I hadn't jumped through the glass.

"I'm sorry, Catherine! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Alice nearly cried.

"It's okay. _I'm_ sorry. I'm just...it's okay, Alice." I walked through the open patio doors, stepping to the side, waiting for someone to lead me, and just as I did, both his sound and his scent assailed my senses like a slap across the face. Part of me wanted to run to him, my right foot taking a step forward.

"Catherine?" Rosalie asked.

_"He'll be there when you've showered and changed, Catherine. Give yourself time to adjust."_ Edward's voice stopped me in my tracks.

He was right. I _knew_ he was right. But my confidence in seeing Charlie that had been so strong just hours before, dwindled as I followed Rose and Alice up the stairs, the smell of him overpowering me with each step.

**BellaPOV**

I watched Catherine climb the stairs with Alice and Rosalie, but Edward caught my attention as he motioned with his hand to Jasper, Emmett, and me, indicating all of us should go outside. Once out back, he pointed to the woods and that we should follow. He only stopped when we were a safe distance from the house.

"Edward, what is it?" Jasper asked as he caught up to the both of us.

"Yeah, Edward, I don't want to be away from them for too long, just in case," Emmett said as he stopped up behind Jasper.

"I think we need to figure out where this guy came from. He had to have been hiding around here somewhere, and there must have been moments when he didn't use his talent."

Jasper nodded towards Edward. "You're right. If he was sent by the Volturi, something tells me he wasn't hiding in the woods the whole time. He must have had a base of operation. But he'd want to remain inconspicuous and well-hidden from us, not to mention the wolves."

Jasper's mention of the wolves reminded me that I needed to call Renesmee.

"Well, that sounds like a remote cabin off the beaten path. Maybe abandoned?" Emmett suggested.

Jasper's fingers pressed into his chin as he mulled over Emmett's suggestion. "Yeah, but that would be too easy for us to track, if we ever got wind of him while he was still alive. No, he's a slippery sucker, but something tells me he'd want company around, somewhere with humans, to blend in, in case we ever found him, somewhere where we couldn't just take him out."

"That sounds like a sleazy motel to me," I offered, and I felt Edward's arms go around me and his kiss on the top of my head.

"When did you get so brilliant, my love?" he joked.

"What do you mean when?" I only half-joked back.

"Well, we can't go anywhere or do anything until Catherine is under control and Charlie wakes up. I'm not leaving Rose here without me, even if for just a little while," Emmett declared.

"Yes, but we have to move soon. If it is the Volturi who sent him and they start missing him, they might send someone else."

Edward's arm pulled me even closer. I didn't even want to imagine another visit from the Volturi, or even just one of the guards. I still hoped that Catherine had just been the crazed vampire's singer, and we could move on. But that hope was quickly diminishing.

"It doesn't matter if it was the Volturi. If he was sent by anyone, they're bound to start wondering why he's not communicating. Emmett, depending on what happens in the next day or so, we may have you hold down the fort here while we go out looking for clues." Jasper turned to Emmett and patted him on the shoulder.

"No problem. I can handle the ladies," Emmett said with a knowing smile.

"Oh really?" Edward responded, and I looked up and just knew he was referring to the incident with Catherine. Jasper knew, too, because he smothered a laugh.

"Okay, that's enough, you three. Let's get through the next day or so, and then we'll figure out who gets to play Sherlock Holmes and who will play newbornguard. C'mon." I slipped from Edward's arms and started running back to the house. I felt rather than saw Emmett's hesitation and the look he gave Edward.

**CathPOV**

I couldn't get over them as they stared back at me from the bathroom mirror.

Charlie's scent tormented my senses, his painful cries impossible for me to ignore, and the guilt poured over me because I knew I should be in there with him. But as soon as I started to listen to that part of my head, fear came rushing in. Fear of what I was _going _to see, fear of what I _might_ see, and fear of what only_ I_ would see in my head, and if I was honest, of what Edward would ultimately see, too. Edward knew every thought that flitted into my head, and it made me feel even dirtier to realize that he may have caught glimpses of what had actually happened, and that would mean not only Charlie had witnessed it, but Edward as well.

A rather loud cry from Charlie's room made me gasp and reflexively turn my head in its direction. Part of me just wanted to go barging straight into his room, hold his hand, and comfort him as much as I could. But the other part was absolutely terrified to even set eyes on him, and I was trying to temper one with the other. Like balancing on a teeter-totter, I sat precariously as the sensations vied for supremacy. Strangely enough, the countering seemed to be working, and the effort of concentrating on the relatively simple task of taking a shower helped me find equilibrium.

Even now, after washing off the dirt and grime, drying my hair, and brushing my teeth - things I would have done days ago and not thought twice about - the mundane tasks seemed unnecessary, even though I had been filthy. Because the person in the mirror that stared back at me felt like a relative stranger. The outline was still the same, but the coloring and subtle shading was off. In some respects, I thought I looked even better. My skin and hair seemed healthier, the lines, the signs of wear and tear on my face had disappeared, the girls seemed firmer, at attention again, and they hadn't been like that in ten years. But it was the eyes, _my _eyes, and their color that shocked the hell out of me when I'd accidentally caught a glimpse of them before getting in the shower. Gone were the blue, but no longer red, either. In fact, they were tending towards a tangerine and scaring the shit out of me.

Rose had caught me gazing into the mirror when she came in with a basket of my bathroom things from Charlie's, including my shampoo and conditioner; even my makeup bag. She also had with her some jeans and a simple white button down, which I didn't recognize.

"The jeans and shirt are mine. Alice is going to try and make a run for some clothes for you and Charlie later, but I had to grab some of your underwear, for the time being. Don't worry, while you were, um, turning, Alice and I washed everything, just in case. I thought maybe you might want...well..."

I inwardly cringed at the thought of anything from that suitcase, remembering my outburst earlier, but this time, I hid the reaction from Rose. Since they had washed everything, and I was already imposing on Rose's wardrobe, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could handle it. I was already enough of a burden.

"It's fine, Rose. Thank you." I fought the disgust that welled up as she handed me my clothes. I quickly tossed them on top of the toilet and turned back to the mirror continuing to stare at myself.

"Your bra size is a bit different than the rest of us." She smiled at me through the mirror, and I returned it. She went to leave and then turned back to me.

"The eye color will fade, Catherine. Pretty soon, they'll be the same color as the rest of us." I looked at her reflection in the mirror and then back at my new face, and thought somewhere, someone was paying good money for a job like this. But then I glanced at her again and realized they all had the same eye color, even him.

"It's the vegetarianism that makes them this color," she added, seeing my confusion. "They're normally red, if you drink human blood."

My eyebrows crinkled as I studied myself again. "Rose, he had your eye color - the same eye color as all of you. Does that mean he was a vegetarian, too?"

"I think it just means he was actually trying to hide what he really was," she said, walking out the door, and closing it behind her.

A knock on the door brought me back to the present.

"Catherine, are you okay? Do you need anything?" I went to open the door, but squeezed the knob too tightly, denting it with my fingers. Bella caught me looking at my handiwork.

"No, I think I'm okay, but I just ruined the damn doorknob," I said through a rush of breath.

"Don't worry about it. Doorknobs are easy to replace. If you're ready, I'll take you in. Everyone else is in there, just in case. Don't let them worry you. They've been told to stay back, and they're basically on the edges of the room. Edward and I will just be behind you, and Carlisle and Esme will be near, too. Okay?"

Taking my gaze from the bent metal, I merely nodded.

"He's been calling for you, Catherine. I think he just needs to know you're all right, and it will help him, that's all." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out an iPhone that looked like mine. Amazing that I hadn't thought about my own, or where it was for days, because normally, I went nowhere without it.

"This is yours. Charlie had it when you were changing and played music for you. Edward said you heard it."

"I...I did."

"Well, I thought maybe you'd like to play some for him." She held it out to me.

Music. Charlie had played a lot of songs for me, but I remembered the one he had initially played, the one that had first broken through. I needed to find one that said what I wanted to say, even though I may not be able to say it. I touched the iPod and began to search for the song that had immediately come to mind.

"Okay, I've got it. I'm ready."

Bella led me down a hall and stopped in front of a door. I inhaled sharply, and it was a mistake, because he was all around me, even behind a closed door. The fingernails on my empty hand pressed into my palm, and for a moment, I thought I would crush my phone.

"Here we go."

Bella opened the door, and the rush of his scent, coupled with the moans and cries coming from him, almost made me turn back. He was lying on his back on a bed, his arms and legs fighting against the hands holding him.

My unmade bed at the cabin flashed across my eyes.

I blinked, purposely looking around the room where Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rose were standing coupled, each pair in a far corner. Then I looked at the two people on either side of Charlie - and I knew they were Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle was on the opposite side, holding down his shoulder and his thigh, while Esme was on the side nearest to me. Edward stood at the foot of the bed, holding Charlie's ankles.

My shoulders stung as the memory of my arms being stretched above my head shot through me.

My gaze fell to the floor as Edward let Charlie go, and I knew he'd caught what was inside my head.

_"I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" _

I answered Edward's apology with just a slight back and forth of my head.

Almost as if sensing I needed the distraction, Esme stood up and walked over to me. "Catherine, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Esme, and that's my husband, Carlisle." She extended her hand out from her, acknowledging Carlisle across the room.

Carlisle bowed his head slightly, not letting go of Charlie. "Hello, Catherine."

I didn't miss the way Esme's fingers curled into a fist as she dropped her hand to her side, or the sympathetic thoughts she tried to hide, and for a moment, she reminded me of my mom. "We wish it could have been under different circumstances, but we're all here for you now. Charlie's been trying to ask for you. I think if he just hears your voice, he'll be less worried."

I glanced past her to Charlie as another moan tore from his throat. "Thank you, Esme...and thank you for everything you did for me." I emphasized it by looking back at her and offering what I could for a smile, but movement made my eyes dart back to Charlie. His head had turned toward me, his body and cries lessening somewhat.

"Would you like to sit next to him?" Esme offered, and I hesitated as my anxiety increased. "Carlisle and I will be close, just in case."

The Cullens were all bombarding me with thoughts of encouragement, as Jasper tried to give me their strength. So I nodded slowly as I took a step, then another, toward the edge of the bed.

Another flash, his bloody face as it had been when I'd turned my head toward his voice just before...

_"Char . . . lie, noooo . . ."_

"Oh, Ch-charlie." The tears that wouldn't come built up within me, but only the sound of a sob escaped me as I neared him. I could feel Jasper trying his best to relax me, but the forceful waves he sent seemed unable to penetrate, bouncing away as if hitting a force field. I fought to concentrate, my eyelids fluttering, until I remembered my phone. I hit the play button and placed it on the bedside table. The sounds of Chris Botti and Paula Cole's "How Love Should Be" filled the room, the corner of my eye catching Rose pulling Emmett closer to her.

_Flowers for my heart, tender words,__  
__And a gentle touch that says so much__  
__This is how I've heard that love should always be._

"Charlie, I'm here," I managed to squeak out.

Charlie's body froze; his only sound the quick pants of air through his teeth. Esme had come up behind me to hold his wrist, so I slowly lowered myself and sat on the bed near his upper arm. His face was nearly healed, no sign of the battered and bloody face that I remembered.

_Love light in his eyes, he'll look at me__  
__And in one bright moment, I will see__  
__That all my dreams of love are just as love should be._

We stood in the gazebo, his fingers pressing my chin up.

_The man who loves you is standing right here. He's going to kiss you now. Probably again in a few minutes. And again and again and again, if you'll let him._

The same arms that had held me, the same lips that had kissed mine taking my breath away.

I slowly reached out the back of my hand, caressing his cheek, down over his chin. My fingertips brushed lightly over his chest, until my palm rested on his shoulder. "Charlie, I'm..." and it was so sudden, I couldn't even prepare.

"Cath..."

A bolt of fire traveled through my hand and up my arm as he said my name, the pain so intense, my hand flew to my chest, and I grasped it with the other.

_"What the?"_ Edward thought, and murmured in a low voice, "Jasper."

"Catherine, it's okay..." Bella said from somewhere close behind me.

Damian's face danced before me, his evil smile taunting.

_Catherine, no! _ Charlie's voice from that night called to me in my mind...and I could feel the panic once again.

"No!" I screamed, shutting my eyes, shaking my head if only to get it to go away.

_"Catherine, you're not there. You're in Carlisle and Esme's room. Charlie is in here, in front of you,"_ Edward coaxed with his thoughts.

I tried to listen to the music, hear the words, will the memory away, to see the man I loved in front of me, needing me.

_I have dreamed that he will give me wings to fly,__  
__And give my soul a taste of paradise,__  
__That I will feel the magic of romance,__  
__By his side.__  
__There'll be music in my head when I hear him say,__  
__That he loves me now and everyday,__  
__This is how I've heard that love should always be._

"Charlie, I'm here. I'm...I'm okay." The words were a lie. I wasn't okay, as the memories kept coming.

His cold hands touching.

His tongue invading.

My body breaking.

My hand reached out again as my body bent over. I closed my eyes to try and escape the images that wouldn't stop, but my fingertips only reached the comforter, digging into the fabric, as I leaned into the mattress.

_No! NO! . . . please . . . not that . . . Charlie, don't watch. _The silent plea in my head as the monster began...

The final verse of the song broke through, but I was losing hold, and I could feel my strength, my grip on reality slipping as I realized I couldn't touch him.

_I will feel the magic of romance,__  
__By his side.__  
__No matter how long it takes to find him,__  
__I will let my dreams remind me,__  
__That somewhere out there he's waitin for me...__  
__Just waiting to show me how love should__  
__Be.__  
__Show me, show me how love should be._

"Jasper!" Edward said more forcefully.

"I'm s-sorry, Ed...ward." I could hear the strain in Jasper's voice.

_"Catherine, listen to me. Focus on the gazebo, how much you love him, how much he loves you. You can do this,"_ Edward thought.

My eyes opened to see Charlie's face twisting in pain. I flinched backward. "Oh...Charlie. I'm...I'm sorry. I just..." I raced from the room before any of them could touch me.

**Bella POV**

"Let her go, Bella."

Catherine had sprinted from the room, and I had lunged at her, but Edward's words made me stop at the door. Grabbing her was out of the question, but running after her was not.

"She's not going far, just far enough to clear her head. She was envisioning that night all over again. Seeing Charlie lying on the bed brought on the flashbacks."

"I totally screwed that up," Rose bitingly admitted. "I thought it would help her to see him, to be there for him. I didn't realize..." She turned toward Emmett as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her to him, as the rest of her sentence was buried in his chest. We all heard the guilt in her voice.

"It's okay, baby. No one thinks this is your fault. I think we all thought seeing Charlie would help," Emmett said as his hand stroked her hair.

"Oh Rose, honey, no. Emmett's right. We all had hope." Esme tried to console her.

"I just can't seem to get a read on her. It's like she changes her mind so fast, so suddenly, her future is a total blur. Nothing is even holding long enough for me to see it. I've never experienced this before." Alice seemed so distraught that Jasper hugged her close with the hand already around her waist.

Carlisle looked at Charlie's face, and then back over his shoulder at Edward. "This is going to be more difficult than I imagined. I'm not sure if..." Carlisle stopped his thought as Charlie began to thrash. "Charlie, I know you can hear me. We'll do everything we can."

"Oh Charlie, please don't worry. Emmett?" Esme's simple request wasn't meant to fool us, but in asking for Emmett, I knew Charlie was getting stronger. Emmett took Esme's place, holding down Charlie's upper body, while Edward once again held his legs.

"Edward, can you still hear her?" Rose asked, still in the corner.

"Yes. She's still running, though slower. She wants to get away from even me. It's uncanny how clear she is. It's nearly as much as Renesmee, and even better than all of you."

"She's gonna go far then," Emmett added.

"I need to go to her. I'm the only one who could possibly understand," Rose suddenly spoke.

"Yes, and we need to take this conversation elsewhere if it continues," Carlisle said so softly, only we could hear it.

"Carlisle, let me spell you for awhile," Jasper offered as he took Carlisle's place next to Charlie. "Rose, I'll give you a bit, and then I'll come out there, get a read on the both of you. If she's okay, I'll come back to the house to give you your privacy."

"Edward, you're going to need to stay here, if she's trying to get away from you. Rose, I'll let you go first, and then I'll come out a bit later and talk to her, too, and then I'll leave to report back to all of you," I added.

Carlisle suddenly walked over to Rose, holding her shoulders and ducking his head to look her in the eye. "Hear me, Rose, when I say while it's contrary to think of why, but I'm glad you're able to help her. Once she's knows me better, perhaps she'll talk to me. But for now, she has you. I know you'll be able to help her." Carlisle stressed his point by kissing the top of her head and wrapping her in a hug.

"Thank you, Carlisle," Rose said, pulling back. "Well, I should go. I'll give her some time first, and then catch up." She ran to Emmett, hugging his shoulders, and then ran from the room.

"Emmett, Jasper, if you're okay here, the rest of us will go downstairs," Edward said.

"I'm going to stay with my dad for a minute. Emmett, Jasper, let Edward and me take him for awhile, at least until I go out to talk to Catherine."

"I'll stay with you, Bella." Esme came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Carlisle, you all go ahead." Esme then took a place at the foot of the bed, as Edward and I walked to opposite sides.

"Bella, do you think it would be all right if I did some online shopping for things for Charlie and Catherine? Things they're going to need? I would go out, but I don't want to leave all of you. Jasper, would you...would you come with me? I don't want to be alone." Alice seemed really troubled by the sight of Charlie and all that had happened, leaning into Jasper as she spoke.

"Of course I will, darlin'," he said and started to lead her to the door. "Y'all just holler if you need me."

"Bella?" The questioning way Carlisle said my name made me turn around from where I'd been looking at Charlie.

"We'll be down in a few, Carlisle. Thank you." He simply nodded and then opened the door for everyone to depart.

As I sat down next to him in the place where Catherine had just been, Charlie's moans became increasingly louder again, his elbows bending and straightening, his fingers tightening in their fists.

"Dad, it's me. It's going to be okay. She just needed time to think. Rose is going to her." I tried to ease not only the physical pain, but what I was sure was the agony of his knowing that Catherine had disappeared. His arm went across his stomach clutching, his body rolling to the side as if he was trying to go after her.

Edward caught his shoulder, and I his arm, to keep him from doing just that.

**CharliePOV**

I smelled that wonderfully familiar scent of her, of lemons, and I knew even before I heard her, she was close.

Then I heard her voice as she said something to Esme. It sounded the same, but _different_ - better, and I fought the flames that licked at my insides to be able to concentrate on her.

_"Would you like to sit next to him?"_ Oh yes, please Esme, get her to come here.

I wished I could open my eyes, although I wasn't quite sure why I couldn't. Fuck, I wanted to see her, to hold her. If she would touch me somewhere, anywhere, I was sure I could feel it.

_"Oh, Ch-charlie." _

_Oh God, not...Oh baby, please don't. Please don't let me hear it in your voice._

But I had, and fuck if it didn't stab me right through the heart. I could hear the fear, the pain in seeing me, and it was everything I was afraid of. Shit, I just wanted to wrap her in my arms again. If I could just hold her-

Then I heard the music, and the sad song tore at my gut. She _must_ have heard the tunes I played for her, or someone had told her about it. I didn't care which, but I knew what she was doing, so I tried to make out the words as she suddenly grew quiet.

_Flowers for my heart, tender words,__  
__And a gentle touch that says so much__  
__This is how I've heard that love should always be._

_"Charlie, I'm here."_

Christ, I didn't realize how much I wanted to hear her voice until it was there next to me, and I tried with all my might to not let her see me move a muscle, to flinch with the fire that raged on within me. I would give her flowers everyday, every moment of every day, from now on.

_Love light in his eyes, he'll look at me__  
__And in one bright moment, I will see__  
__That all my dreams of love are just as love should be._

I remembered her smile, the smile she had given me in the gazebo, and how I'd kissed her and knew even then, there was nothing that would make me let her go. I fought the fire and all of its intensity, because I didn't want her to see. She'd been through enough. I knew what I looked like from her vantage point, and I focused everything in me into hiding the thrashing and the moans. Even if the selfish bastard in me wanted her here, I couldn't stand the thought of her seeing me like this.

But all of a sudden, the softest skin touched my cheek, down my neck, fingertips running across my chest. It was her hand. I knew it better than I knew my own, and the tender way she ran it over my chest, coming to rest on my shoulder. I needed to let her know I felt it. I needed to-

"Cath..."

BAM. It was like blazing rocket of electricity pinpointing into my shoulder, and my whole body buzzed with it, even more than the inferno that already was. It took all I had to keep from crying out, until her hand disappeared.

_"No!" _she screamed.

What the fuck? Had she felt that, too_?_

_Catherine! Talk to me! Say something! Anything!_

_I have dreamed that he will give me wings to fly,__  
__And give my soul a taste of paradise,__  
__That I will feel the magic of romance,__  
__By his side.__  
__There'll be music in my head when I hear him say,__  
__That he loves me now and everyday,__  
__This is how I've heard that love should always be._

She didn't speak, and I heard more of the words to that song she was playing. They ripped me to shreds inside, more painful then the fire raging within me, which started to feel more like needle pricks. _Aw hell, Catherine, I do love you, and I'll tell you again and again. Soon. Please stay with me. Please._

_"Charlie, I'm here. I'm...I'm okay."_

But her words didn't fool me. Shit. I could hear it, the little hesitation in her voice. She was lying, and I knew she was doing it for me.

_Dammit, Catherine! Stop trying to be brave. Let the Cullens help you until I can do it myself._

Fuck, I'd never felt so damn helpless in my entire life. I wished with everything I had that Edward could hear me, so he could tell her what I was thinking. So he could let her know.

_FUUUCK!_

_I will feel the magic of romance,__  
__By his side.__  
__No matter how long it takes to find him,__  
__I will let my dreams remind me,__  
__That somewhere out there he's waitin for me...__  
__Just waiting to show me how love should__  
__Be.__  
__Show me, show me how love should be._

_Cath, baby, you have found me. Give me your hand. Let me feel it again_.

I tried to move my fingers so she could see, to just open my hand so she would know. But I couldn't tell if I was or not, and the sheer frustration of it all was just making me want to explode.

Something made Edward yell Jasper's name, and then Jasper apologize to Edward.

_Someone tell me what the FUCK'S going on!_

_"Oh...Charlie. I'm...I'm sorry. I just..."_

A bounce of the bed underneath me, and then...nothing.

Catherine? Catherine are you still there?

But I could feel the emptiness next to me. Her body was no longer next to mine, that lemony smell now fading away.

She was gone.

_No!_

**BellaPOV**

I walked down the stairs to find Edward at the patio doors looking out across the backyard. Emmett and Carlisle had rejoined us upstairs, Edward leaving soon after, and now they were tending to Charlie, along with Esme. As the moments went by, and we watched Charlie suffer even more than he had been, I felt torn. Torn because I didn't know where to be, who I should go to, or what I could do. Then there was Emmett. His disposition grew more frustrated and worried about Rose, as well, because he knew, we _all_ knew, that Edward had lost touch with them both.

Edward stood staring out the windows as if trying to pick up any hint, any far flung thought wave that would give us some idea of how they were, even though I knew it went against every last vestige of his honor. Because I was sure Catherine had heard him say not to go after her, and had figured out just how far she needed to go to get out of his range.

We were all worried, but even more concerned in the recognition that Rose might be the last chance, the last possibility of getting through to Catherine, of actually giving her some form of comfort and relative stability; even if Carlisle was a doctor, it was only Rose who understood what she was feeling.

While Rose and I had grown close in the last few years, closer than I'd ever thought possible, I felt like _I_ should be with Catherine, and the thoughts left me feeling rather helpless and inadequate. Charlie was _my_ Dad, after all, and I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that I should be responsible, that I should be doing something. But then I would feel guilty for even for even being remotely envious of Rose, because of what she had endured even to_ be_ in this position. It was insane to even think that way, and I should be thankful that there was someone among us who even comprehended what Catherine was going through - who might be able to empathize.

Coming up on the side of him, I slid my arm around Edward's waist, encompassing us in my shield as his arm wrapped around my shoulders. He let me see what I already knew - that Catherine had gone far, and he no longer heard either of them.

_"Do you think Rose will be able to help her? Will _we_?"_ I shared the questions that had been in my head since we arrived back in the yard, as Edward showed me a view of Catherine running through the woods and then bending over in sheer agony.

_"I lost her not much after that."_ As his words floated to me, he hugged me tighter. _"I hope so, Bella. I hope so. I'm not sure what we'll do if she doesn't."_

He let me see his last few glimpses of her, her thoughts of Charlie, her crying his name, and almost willing him to answer her. But I gasped when her last thoughts before taking off again into the words tore at my heart.

"Oh, Edward!" I cried as I tucked myself into his chest, taking back my shield, not wanting to see anymore.

He held me like that for a few moments, running his hand over my back, trying to take away my fear. But as my arms went around him, and I clutched him to me, I made every effort to block Catherine's last thought as I had heard it:

_"...that everything would go back to the way it was, that he and I could...That the safety of his arms around me and what I felt in them would be enough._

_But I knew it wouldn't. It hadn't been."_

Edward's sudden movement made me look up at him.

"Jake's coming. He wants to know what's going on." Edward ducked his head as if he was trying to escape seeing something, and I knew that Jake was shifting into human form. I stayed in his arms just a few minutes more before Jacob came out of the woods and up to the door.

"Hey, I kinda figured you would know I was coming, so I didn't call first." He laughed, but his grin faded as he realized his joke had fallen flat.

His eyes went from mine, to Edward's, and back again. "What? What's happened? I know she and Rose are out there, I caught their scent on the way in. The pack knows to leave them alone for now. But you two don't look happy, even if you are trying to hide behind the vamp-masks."

"Catherine's not doing well," Edward answered, staring past Jacob and out the window once more.

"Should we be concerned?" Jacob directed the question toward me.

"She's better than she was, but she still not..." I couldn't even tell Jacob that she may never recover, so I changed the subject.

"How's Renesmee?" I had directed the question at Jacob, but before he could answer...

"She's not cooperating," Edward said, and I could tell by the tension that cooperating was too light a word.

"Yeah, well, she's being Nessie," Jake offered, and then turned his back, trying to hide his expression. Doing so hid it from me, but not from Edward.

"Jake, you will not let her near the house yet. If you and Sam, Seth, Jared, and Paul can't contain her, have Emily talk to her." Edward finally glanced over at Jacob, who had gone across the room to lean against the back of the living room chair.

His hands clutched at either side of it, his head bowed in what looked like embarrassment. "Yeah, but Edward, you know how she is."

"Jake, I'm counting on you," Edward said rather forcefully as he left my side to go stand in front of Jacob. "This is your chance to prove yourself. Don't make me regret my decision."

Jacob let out a long sigh as he stood up, squared his shoulders, and stared back at Edward.

I knew I had to intervene. "Edward, none of us can't resist her when she wants something bad enough. This is our fault. We thought we could keep her from all of this, from what we really are. All we've done is pretend and make her think that the world is what is contained here, at the Rez, and at the cottage. Well, it's not, and the reality is out there in the woods with Rose and upstairs turning. And while I want to keep her safely within the walls we've created, we just can't anymore. The future is not in our hands to control."

Maybe it wasn't the time for that speech, but it took Edward's attention from Jacob and brought it to me.

His features softened just slightly. "Bella, I hear what you're saying, but introducing her to Catherine and Charlie as unpredictable newborns is dangerous. Not just for Nessie, but Jake as well."

I walked closer to him, throwing my shield over him only. "_Edward, Charlie won't hurt her. I know it."_

_"It's not Charlie I'm worried about."_ Edward gave me a view of everyone in the backyard, with Jasper holding Catherine and Emmett holding Charlie. Catherine struggled in Jasper's grasp, until she escaped to attack Renesmee, with Jake stepping in front of her. Seeing Jacob go after Catherine only made Charlie tear himself from Emmett arms to go after Jacob. _"A short time ago, I wouldn't have lost sleep, if I slept, over that scenario."_

"Um, hello? I'm still here, remember? Man, I hate it when you two do that," Jake whined, and I started to have doubts about him, about anyone really, being able to handle Renesmee.

"Sorry, Jake," I said as I walked closer to both of them. "Tell Renesmee, Charlie should only be another day. Once we have Catherine and him under control, you can bring her back. We'll start outside, so if need be, you can get her away quickly-"

"Bella, do you think that's even wise to offer, considering the condition Catherine's in? She can't even control herself. God knows how she'll react to Nessie's human blood." Edward spun around and began to pace, his hand running through his hair, and I knew he was more frustrated than ever.

Jacob sensed Edward's growing anxiety and tried to offer a possibility. "Maybe if Nessie sees how it could be, or Catherine's reaction to her in the beginning, she'll be scared enough to stay away again. Don't worry, if you guys are holding Catherine and Charlie back, I can get her away fast."

"Charlie would never hurt his granddaughter," I said out loud again, sternly directing my gaze toward Edward, even though I'd already let him know how I felt.

"Okay, well then, maybe everything will be fine and nothing will happen. She'll see Charlie and Catherine, and then I can take her back." I knew Jacob didn't believe that statement any more than I did.

Edward's arms folded across his chest as he glanced from the floor and then to me. I could read him even without my shield over him, and he was not happy with any of it. I knew from experience that Edward always thought the worst of what could possibly happen, but I stood firm in my conviction that Renesmee needed to learn what we had tried to keep from her for all of these years. She needed to know just want a crazed newborn could look like, even though it hurt to think that it might be Catherine, and even her own grandfather, who might teach her that lesson. But there may never be another opportunity like this, an opportunity with newborns we knew, with a situation that we could attempt to control.

"Fine," Edward finally huffed. "Jake, we'll call when we think you can bring her. Bella, I don't like this. We could wait a few weeks-"

"Edward." I walked up to him and took his hand, hoping that in some small way, I wasn't wrong about this. "We're her family, and she needs to learn exactly what we are and what can happen. We've sheltered her enough. If she's...when she's no longer with us, she'll need to know these things."

I watched as I softly ran my thumb over the top of his hand, unable to look him in the eye, trying to find the courage behind my conviction. I was sure of what I said. I felt I was right, but a slight prick of trepidation found its way in as I realized _if_ I was wrong, it could be disastrous, and my daughter, _our_ daughter, could get hurt. Not to mention Jacob.

Edward's other hand found its way to my cheek, turning my face to his. "I hope you're right," he said as he kissed the top of my head.

"Yeah, okay. I'll go back to the Rez. You two carry on with your PDA, but just call me when you want this to go down. Oh, and Edward, I don't like it anymore than you do, but I know better than to fight with Bella when her mind is made up," Jacob said as he walked passed us, trying to ignore the uncomfortable affectionate moment, and left out the back doors.

As he pulled me into his arms, Edward breathed into my ear, "It seems that I'm forgetting how to say no to you, too."

* * *

A/N:

Oooook. So, did everyone survive that? If so, you'll want to keep the box of Kleenex handy for Ch 23, too.

Thanks, as always for reading and for all the lovely reviews you're leaving. It really does a soul good to know that you're all enjoying this psychosis of mine right along with me!


	23. Chapter 23

Yes, you are seeing correctly. I'm posting Ch 23 here before it goes up on Twi. The reason being there seems to be a backlog over there, and I didn't what all of you waiting any longer. Tell your friends, your neighbors, maybe the mailman if he's hot. Thank you to all of you for being so patient.

Ooooodles of love to my Pufferfish, HammerHips, who keeps having to remind me this is a good fic, even when I'm suffering from a deplorable lack of confidence, and with nimble fingers and an awesome mind, helps me make it even better. Mwah, darling.

Thank you all of my readers, for sticking with this, and for your lovely reviews.

Without anymore blather from me…

* * *

**Chapter 23**

Barber: Adagio for Strings

**CathPOV**

God! Make it stop!

I was safely out the patio door and into the woods when it registered that Edward had told Bella and the rest of them not to come after me. I didn't know how he knew to stop them, because I didn't think I was sure myself where I was going or what I was going to do. I just had to get out of there. Far away from them, from the onslaught of images that kept coming.

And as much as it tore me to pieces to think so, from Charlie.

I just wanted to fucking scream, and I let one long, guttural growl rip from inside me. I was getting used to the noise and the feeling it gave me to sound like an animal and the thought freaked me out even more. Running, flying like I did before to trying to forget all that had happened, all that tormented me. Because I could feel it taking over, me, myself, or at least what I had been, losing to the monster within. The monster that was warring inside me _from_ the monster whose teeth had given rise to it. The monster _he_ had created, the part of him that was now part of me and flowing through me, the venom eating away at whatever was left of that which had been human. That had been me.

My hand ran up my arm as I was reminded of the painful jolt that had run through it. Just touching Charlie had somehow triggered something, a memory, a feeling, and it had been as painful as the fire that had burned through me. I stopped running and bent over - my hands on my knees - the thought wrenching my insides enough to actually feel my stomach turn. If I couldn't be there for Charlie now, if I was incapable of showing some sort of affection, to even touch him when he needed me the most, what would happen when…?

"Charlie." I cried toward the ground, wanting him to answer, wanting him to tell me it would be ok, that everything would go back to the way it was, that he and I could...That the safety of his arms around me and what I felt in them would be enough.

But I knew it wouldn't. It hadn't been.

The thought triggered my feet, and I flew again through the trees and the underbrush.

Yes, he had tried. So hard. Looking back I realized there was absolutely nothing he could have done against a crazed vampire, being only human and half beaten-to-death himself.

"Holy hell." I stopped again, realizing I could no longer hear Edward anymore. I looked back over my shoulder in the direction of the house, and tried to process my last thought.

The monster could have easily killed Charlie first. Killed him outright, and then tortured me.

Charlie could be dead right now.

_Charlie could be dead right now. Charlie could be dead right now. _The words repeated over and over again.

I would have had no one, save the Cullens, to help me through any of this.

No. "_No_!" I shouted, beginning to sprint again.

Charlie didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be in there, writhing in the fire, succumbing to this life, if that's what you called it.

But they said he was doing it for _me_.

It had been Charlie who had told them to do this, who had made the decision for me to become this…this thing. As much as I wanted to understand his motives, as much as I tried to reconcile eternity and being a blood-crazed vampire with that same eternity with Charlie, I couldn't grasp it. If I had to spend that eternity reliving that night, feeling used, torn apart, and…violated to the core over and over, then I'd rather be dead.

I gasped aloud as the words I'd just spoke hit me.

_I'd rather be dead._

Charlie was too good of a man, and I would never be good enough for him.

I stopped when I reached a serene looking lake, Edward's and everyone else's thoughts silent now, and only the stillness of the woods around me since any wildlife had headed for the hills when they new something like me was near. The comprehension tore at me again, for my previous self, my human self, had loved animals and now I would kill them with my hands to drain the life out of them.

A group of large rocks sat just to the north of the lake, but instead of swimming through the water, I walked around. I walked as slow as I thought I would have a week ago, taking in the view, finally plopping my now-firm ass down on one of them to overlook the water.

From somewhere far off, the memory of the strange tingling in the pit of my stomach hit me. Just weeks ago, I had embarked on some stupid-ass path to self-discovery, a journey that was supposed to help me find what I was missing. I had been almost certain that something was going to happen to me, some life-changing event that would rock my world. If someone had asked me just days ago, I would've said it was a fucked-up rental and a squad car's coincidental stop, a cop with soft brown eyes and a mustache that tickled my skin, soft brown eyes that in a glance made me melt, arms and hands that tenderly drifted over my body and fiercely wrapped me in their safety.

Now, knowing what I was, knowing that I may never be who I had been again, the event couldn't be Charlie or what we had felt in that week. No. It was this…this _thing_ I'd become. I would never die. I would never go to church again, not that I had been in quite a few years. But the knowledge that I was now something, a creature from the depths of hell, undead, cursed to walk the earth for all eternity, bent on killing . . . I would never get to heaven. I would never see my father again. I would never see my family again.

Charlie had chosen this existence for me, for us, the Cullens just bystanders in a life and death choice that should never have been made. In any other situation, in any other reality…

I _would_ be dead.

"No, dammit!" I yelled into the wildlife around me. In any _other_ reality, Charlie and I would still be…There would've been no stalker! There would have been no vampire! There would have been no…I couldn't think the word.

Charlie and I would still be human. _Together_.

We'd be living.

But there _had_ been some crazed maniacal vampire, and Charlie _had_ done his best to keep me safe. And even after all that had happened, all that he had seen, Charlie had told Bella he couldn't be without me.

_Never let me go. _

My words, his words, came to me once again. I'd heard his voice, there in the cabin. Through the burning and the searing, his voice had reached me. His and Bella's telling him I was becoming a vampire.

He had definitely kept his promise.

Sure, easy enough decision for him. His entire family was here. He could see them everyday, he was now _like_ them.

And I was just, well…what was I? An outsider? Part of the family? Someone had said something about becoming part of the family – a voice from Charlie's room when I had been turning that I knew now was Renesmee. Was that really what I was? Or just a gargantuan burden?

I sat on my rock for I don't know how long. I had no watch, and I'd left my phone back in the room. The two sides of me kept on fighting with each other, each trying to gain some toehold. Visions of the last week with Charlie sporadically interspersed with flashes of my cabin, of Damian, of the last moments of normal, human life. I laid my soul bare for Charlie, and he had done the same for me, but nothing in our pasts, nothing in the history of our painful relationships could've prepared us for any of this.

And I didn't know if anything would ever be right again.

Suddenly, I picked up a scent, but it was a familiar one, and my body eased off of alert. Rose approached the other side of the lake and stopped, peering at me and studying my reaction. She waved her hand slightly and I bobbed my head in response, hearing her thoughts, knowing that she wanted to talk to me. She wanted to try and help, and if ever there was a time, it was now. I simply could not think this through on my own anymore.

"Hi," she said softly as she sat down on the rock next to me. "I'm sure you know why I'm here, just as sure as I know you knew I was going to sit on this here rock. Wasn't there somewhere more comfortable you could've picked?" I knew Rose was trying to make a joke, even though it was a half-hearted one. We both knew sitting on a rock was no longer uncomfortable.

I looked out across the lake, in the now semi-darkness, but amazed at how clear everything still was. "I suppose. But I wasn't really looking for the closest Marriott when I came out here." There would be no more Marriotts in my future, at least not for a quite awhile anyway.

"Yes, well, this will have to do then, won't it?" She shimmied up further on the rock, and I glanced over at her and then back out across the water.

"I don't know if I can do this." I stretched out my legs down the front of the rock, my hands rubbing the tops of my thighs.

"Do what? Talk? No one can hear us, Catherine. Edward has been given explicit orders to stay back at the house. Jasper may or may not come out just to help you, if you need it, but right now it's just you and me, sweetie. I can listen, or I can do the talking, whatever you need."

I actually liked Rose's almost smartass reply. I could sense that she was going to be straight-up with me, and it's what I wanted. So I asked the one question that had been burning a hole in my brain, and at the moment, the most important one I could think of.

"How did you get past it?"

Rose let out a long sigh before answering, and for a moment, I wished I could take back my question. "I wouldn't say you ever really get past it, Catherine. That's probably not what you want to hear, either. When it happened to me, and after I was changed, I went after them. All of them. I killed them one-by-one, leaving my fiancé for last." The images flew by in her head, as she let me see her tearing into each man, until their death satisfied the anger within her. Anger I could actually feel emanating from her and it made my own rise up to the surface.

"God, I wish I could have killed him myself. Torn his head off, his…" I suddenly said aloud, and it felt good to say it. It would have felt _extremely_ good to tear him into shreds with my own hands, and I remembered thinking something similar when Damian had been in front of me, the Cullens approaching from all sides. I'd wanted them to help me kill him, too.

"Don't worry, I did it for you." Rose said nonchalantly, and she let me see exactly what she had done, tearing it off him before they'd even left the cabin. I saw Jasper as they met up with him, a bonfire burning to his side as they approached, and how Edward and Emmett had ripped his arms as Rose had torn off his head, the pieces thrown in the fire, their remnants floating up in smoke. For a minute, I nearly jumped over to her hug her. Up until this moment, I hadn't known what exactly happened, and my shocked expression as I turned to look at her turned to one of thanks, but a slight nod was all I could offer.

"Did it help you? Killing them, I mean?" I asked, looking back out over the water.

"Yes and no. I was fighting for sanity, much like you are. I wanted revenge. I was also fighting for what I almost had, what I had wanted my life to be - a wedding, a husband, and babies. It was a different time, a different way of thinking than now. You see, I thought I loved Royce, the ass-, um, but I was soooo wrong. I didn't know what love was back then."

As I looked over at her, I gave her as much of a grin as my current state would allow. "Feel free to broaden your vocabulary with me. You'll find mine can be quite colorful." She smiled back until I turned away once again as my eyes roamed the shore on the farther side.

"And one of them was your _fiancé_." It was more of a statement then a question because I already knew the answer.

"Yes."

"Asshole." I whispered for her. "I can't even imagine what it must have been like for it to be…someone you knew, let alone someone you were engaged to." My head shook back and forth as I saw a similar thought flit through her mind.

I realized that I hadn't seen any memories of Emmett in what she had shown me. "But Emmett wasn't there, he didn't see…" Rose's thoughts veered off to the day that she came across Emmett being mauled by a bear, carrying him across miles, back to what looked like the Cullen house, and asking Carlisle to save him.

"No, I didn't find Emmett until years later." She let me see those first few moments after Emmett woke up, how she explained to him what had happened, what he was, and how she knew the minute she saw him that she needed to help him. I could almost reach out and touch the overwhelming attraction, the bond that had been between them even in those first memories and I was amazed that she was able to feel that after what had happened to her.

"How did he react when you told him? Or did you tell him?"

"Yes, he knows. It took us a while to get there – for me to get there. He was very…gentle our first time. It was a very long slow process actually. He was very nervous." I heard a smile and I turned my head and saw…

"Could you maybe think of something else, like a Disney movie or flying unicorns or something? Anything but _that_?" As I smiled back at her, I caught a glimpse of what looked something like Belle and the Beast. "Just not Bambi, please," and we both managed a soft laugh.

"Can I ask you something?" she hopped down off of her rock walking over to me, and for the first time in days didn't feel the urge to flee.

"Sure." Even though my answer was casual, I felt anything but.

"You ran all the way out here, and stopped at this bunch of rocks. Tell me, truthfully, what did you think of when you were running? Through the woods, I mean?" She climbed up next to me and I scooted over to make room. While I hadn't bolted yet, I wasn't taking any chances.

"Oh, lot's of things. Confusion mostly. Why us, why me. Angry in a sense because Charlie made the choice for me, and then somehow thinking that he should join me. But also…" I hesitated before continuing, "the feeling that I'm…"

"You're what?"

I gathered my knees to my chest again, wrapping my arms around them and hugging them to me. I thought a long moment about exactly what to say to her, did I want to share that much, but something in Rose's demeanor, something in the trust that she was offering by moving closer to me, made me voice the ultimate issue.

"That I'm damaged," a deep breath in and a long exhale out. "That I'm not good enough for him." With the words, my dead heart crumbled.

The light of what sun there was had long disappeared. Rose and I sat in silence as the dusk turned the cloudy sky into darker gray, until it was completely dark. Not a star in the sky twinkled its hello, either because it never seemed to be without clouds in Forks, or because even the heavens didn't want me to have the first star to wish upon. I searched and searched, but even with my super vampire vision, I couldn't find one.

Rose and I stayed on our rock throughout the night, with long stretches of just sitting quietly. Occasionally we talked, as my seemingly endless questions about what to expect were patiently answered by her. Sometimes, she didn't speak a word, and just a floated images and memories to me. Images of her and Emmett, how she told Emmett what had happened to her, his reaction, and the countless ways - sweet, thoughtful, loving ways - that he had fought to make her see herself as he did.

"But I don't know if I'm capable… I mean, I can't stand for any of you to touch me, how am I suppose to… how can I…" I was too embarrassed to finish the thought out loud. How could Charlie and I ever be together again?

"I'm…I'm just a reminder of what-"

"Catherine, don't even say it, because I know what you're thinking. You can't imagine him wanting you. You can't imagine that he would ever want to touch you, make love to you, in any way that won't remind you or him of what happened. You're so _very_ wrong. Being with Charlie will not be the same as…that. He loves you, Catherine. We can all see it."

Rose had stopped talking, so I poked my finger into the rock I was sitting on, and pulled out a chunk. Charlie may have loved me before, he may even have thought he loved me as he sat on the bed, Bella and Carlisle telling him what was happening to me. Or it could have been some show of misplaced guilt, his honor getting the best of him.

I threw the chunk, intending on it going in the water, but instead it flew over the lake and well into the trees beyond. Rose watched the rock, and then continued. "I'm not saying it won't take time, Catherine. It will, and time is one thing _we_ have a lot of. Love is powerful, even more so when you're a vampire. Mates are forever, and you and Charlie found each other even before you were changed. I knew the moment I saw Emmett being ripped by the bear, that I could feel again, but this time it was different. It wasn't wrapped in some shiny paper with a bow on it. It wasn't all the things I had wanted in my human life. Emmett was Emmett, and he was, _is_, perfect. I couldn't imagine ever living like this, being like this, without _him_."

She leaned back on her hands. "Your love for Charlie, and his for you, will help you both. It will just take time, baby steps even, for you to build up to things. But you will have each other, and you'll need to help each other, communicate with each other. Because as much as you went through, he went through it as well."

I flinched at the thought.

"It's not just the fact that you were being raped, Catherine. It's that you were being raped and he couldn't help you. Think of it from his perspective. Even moments after it happened, he was there by your side wanting to save you. This was the only option for him, because in choosing this, in his mind, he _was_ saving you. He was choosing a life _with_ you. A life for both of you. Having you die after what he had just seen would have been infinitely worse for him. He would never have been able to survive it."

Somewhere in my head a voice whispered, "She's right." I could see Charlie blaming himself for the years he had left, how it might have affected his relationship with Bella, Renesmee, and the rest of the Cullens. It would have undoubtedly made him leave the police force, and my insides turned once again at what I had done to this man's life.

"But what if when he wakes up, he's as messed up as I am? If what you all are saying is true, we have an eternity, yes, but what if…" I let the words hang as I considered the possibility that just sprang into my head.

"What if he can't even…look at _me_? What if _he's_ changed? Or changed his mind? What if this…this thing we've both become fucks with his head as much as it's fucking with mine? So yeah, he was wonderful when he was human, but neither _one_ of us is human now. Where will I go? What will I do?"

"You're family, Catherine. We would never send you away, unless you made the choice to leave. We also have friends in other places that you could go to, who would take you in."

"But I don't think I want to leave." I knew for sure as hell that I didn't want to go hang out with some vampires I didn't even know, even though I really didn't know the Cullens. But something told me the Cullens were different, and it wasn't just because they only sucked on animals. At least I knew, or I _thought _I knew, they were…_good_ vampires.

_Was that an oxymoron?_ Somehow, I felt Edward would've gotten a kick out of that thought.

"What do you want, Catherine?" Rose suddenly asked. "What do you feel? Through all of the mess, the anger, the hurt, listen to your heart. What's it telling you?"

My heart. Did she mean that life-giving organ that used to beat in my chest that was now silent, or a metaphorical feeling that hopefully still existed somewhere inside me? My head turned slightly toward her as focused my eyes on the rock between us, and I wasn't sure if I could answer the question. A week ago, I just wanted to find peace, a peace away from what had been my life back in Chicago. Four days ago, I just wanted peace, peace from a crazed stalker which I'd sort of found in the arms of a ruggedly handsome man who made my knees weak, and whose kisses and tickly mustache turned me into goo.

Rose's images interrupted mine, and it looked like she was thinking of the future. All of us including what looked like Jake and a girl who I guessed was Renesmee, together horsing around in the backyard, the boys all watching football with Charlie and Emmett fighting over the remote, shopping with the girls - all visions that looked almost like we were human.

I flicked my head slightly, trying to get back to her question. Now, I still wanted peace: peace from the voices in my head, from the images of that night that wouldn't stop, from the two sides inside me battling for dominance. But even through all of that, a soft flutter of what had been fought to break through, a constant that I simply could not throw away or run away from. The one answer to Rose's question that had struggled to be heard stretched up from its dark corner with every ounce of strength it had left.

"I want _him_, Rose. I love him." I said, glancing up at her for the briefest of moments, until I looked down again. "I just hope it's enough. I hope he still wants me."

She leaned back up again, her hand palm up reached into the line of sight where I'd been staring down at the rock. Seeing it jolted me because I recognized the gesture and my eyes flew to hers, then slowly ran down back to her outstretched hand. I reached mine out tentatively, and felt the pull of both sides of me – the one wanting to jump off the rock and run, the other…the other wanting to take it in my own. Sending all my focus to my fingertips, I gently put them in the palm of her hand, waiting for my subconscious to wig, to suddenly be standing on the shore of the lake.

But it didn't happen.

I slid my fingers across her hand and gripped it.

"See, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" She ducked her head and smiled over to me. "But, um, can you loosen up just a teensy bit cuz you're about to crush my hand."

"Oh!" I pulled my hand away. "I'm sorry, I…" Geezfuckinglouise this whole strength thing was going to take some getting used to.

"It's ok. It's ok." She laughed, and out of the corner of my eye saw her hand reaching toward my shoulder and I tensed, unnecessarily holding my breath. Her palm lightly grazed it, and then softly patted it until she pulled it back quickly.

"Baby steps, Cath. Baby steps." She said convincingly, as I let out the breath that I was holding and looked back out over the water. Small waves were bouncing up onto the shore, their cadence almost lulling me until I realized it was something else. Some_one_ else.

"Jasper and Bella are coming." I said matter-of-factly, knowing it was Jasper's help that let me.

**BellaPOV**

Jasper and I ventured out hours after Jacob had left, hoping we had given Rosalie enough time and that all had not gone wrong, but since Rose hadn't returned, we figured their chat was still ongoing. I knew Edward was going crazy with trying to keep his promise to stay behind, and struggled with letting me go with Jasper. We sprinted into the woods to get as far as we could in the shortest amount of time, but now walked at almost a human pace. Jasper felt that running and coming upon them quickly might scare Catherine even before we were close, since Catherine could most likely hear his thoughts before he could sense her.

"Well? Anything?" I whispered, although it was stupid to do so.

"No." Jasper walked with his eyes in up in the trees trying to get a read on either one of them.

We both followed their trail for quite a while, neither of us realizing just how far they'd gone. Until Jasper put his arm out to stop me, and ducked his head ever so slightly which looked more like something Edward would do to listen, then Jasper would do to feel.

"There." He paused, his eyes closing. "They're together and Rose seems to be helping. Catherine's still conflicted, but she's not registering any type of flight response, so that's good. Rose seems quite calm, all things considered."

Oh, thank God. "Should I go to them?"

"Yeah, I'll let you lead and follow closely behind just in case. If all seems ok, I'll go back and let everyone know." He stopped to let me walk in front of him, and as I did he started again about two steps behind me. It was a wise move, letting a female lead. I was never more thankful for Jasper's ability to read a situation and strategize, even for something as subtle as the gesture would signify.

I followed their trail and saw them both sitting on a rock across a rather large lake. As I came up to the shore, Jasper held back about 10 feet behind me. Relief flooded through me seeing them sitting together.

"I think it's ok for you to go up to them. I'm getting a little nervousness, but nothing like what she's been. I'll stay here until you're with them, sending more help her way as you get close. Then I'll head back." I nodded back to him, and then looked across. I knew they could both hear us so I just left it at that and started slowly walking.

I knew Catherine couldn't read my thoughts as I got closer, but I tried to hide my own nervousness even though my face wouldn't show it. If Rose had made progress, I didn't want my intrusion to set Catherine back as much I wanted to feel I could help.

When I reached the other side, I stayed near the shore, about six feet from both of them. "Hey. I just came out to see how everything's going out here. I probably don't have to tell you that there are some people back at the house who are wondering." I tried to sound light, as if I wasn't on some intensive fact-finding mission.

Catherine glanced at Rose then back at me. "Thanks, Bella. I know my exit was a little…dramatic. Sorry about that."

"It's ok. We all understand, Catherine. Do you mind if I join you both? Or should I go back?" I almost crossed my fingers.

"No, please stay." Catherine answered sincerely.

"I think," Rose looked over at Catherine, "I think we're doing better." Catherine's resulting stretch of her legs, her hands pressing along her thighs, made me wonder. "Bella since you're here, Catherine if you don't mind, I'm going to run back to the house to check on things and Emmett."

"No, I don't mind. Please go check on the big guy. I'm sure he's itchin' to see you." Catherine's accompanying grin didn't reach her eyes, and I noticed how she tore her gaze away from the both of us and glanced out across the water.

Rose hopped down off the rock in a Rose-style, I-don't-want-to-ruin-these-jeans, maneuver, running her hands over her behind to rid it of any residual dirt. "Ok, but I'll be back in a bit." She turned and ran, and I knew that she'd be meeting up with Jasper making sure they were out of thought-shot of Catherine.

I made a point of slowly stepping closer. "I want to ask how you're doing, but I don't want to ask how you're doing. Is it ok if I sit?" I asked, noting Catherine once again bringing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

"Sure." She glanced over next to her, but I only went as far as the edge and nowhere near as close as Rose had been. "It should tell you something that you're sitting here next to me rather than chasing me through the woods, right?" She half-grinned over to me, and smiled back.

I chanced a half-second more glance at her, trying to judge her emotional state. She did seem calmer, although that could change any minute. It didn't feel right to throw my shield over us just yet, so I thought it would be easier if I just did the talking. "I'm not going to say I know how difficult this is for you, because I have no idea. I never really had the whirlwind out of control feelings that newborns have. Maybe it has something to do with my shield, but I'm still not sure just how. But even more, what you're going through with what happened to you. I'm so sorry we didn't make it in time, Catherine. You'll never know how sorry we all are." I'd finally been able to tell her what I've wanted to tell her since Edward burst through her cabin door. She didn't react, so I continued.

"We thought that since he was just one, that we could…eliminate him ourselves. But he had an ability to hide from us, one even Carlisle had never seen before."

"Wait, how did you know about him? Did Charlie…"

"Alice had a vision. Two, actually. He'd…he'd changed his mind from the first one."

"Alice had…_visions_? You mean she saw-" My insides turned as I realized what my revelation meant to her, and the palms of her hands came up and covered her face.

"Yes, well…" I hesitated to even reveal more. "In order to try and help you and my Dad, I shared the second vision with everyone. I can do that with my shield. We never wanted to…we thought we could get there before."

"Oh my God." She whispered through her hands. I wanted to reach out to her, to hug her, to do anything to show how sorry I was.

"I'm sorry. So sorry, Catherine. We were just trying to get an idea of who he was: any information in the vision, if Carlisle had seen him before, if _anyone_ had seen him before, and how to find you both beforehand. You see, Alice's visions can change depending on whether or not the people involved change their minds or choose a different course."

Her head suddenly popped up, as her hands clutched the rock on either side gazing out into the trees, her fingers digging into the rock underneath them. "So what you're saying is, if Charlie and I hadn't gone back to the cabin, if we had done _one thing_ differently…"

Reluctantly, I answered her, "Yes. Or if _he_ had."

Her fingers dug deeper, crushing the rock into dust into the palms of her hands. As if suddenly realizing what she'd done, she held up her hands and then let the dust flow back down through her fingers until it disappeared into the wind. She rested them again on either side of her, this time not digging into the rock, but hunching forward slightly as her elbows bent. I got the feeling she was going to run.

I reached out my hand, hoping it would stop her. "Catherine, please don't!" I begged.

As the seconds ticked by, she stayed completely still, and as time passed, I put my hand back at my side. It seemed like hours went by and I assumed she wrestled internally with what I'd told her. I hadn't wanted to lie to her, but perhaps telling her all that I did was a huge mistake. It _was_ a mistake. What was I thinking? That giving her information, _all_ the information, would help her understand? Yes. Forgive us? Probably, and I was disgusted with myself for thinking so selfishly.

"Bella," she finally said, glancing over at me but not looking up. "While I'm not particularly fond of the idea that you all…that you all saw what happened, I understand what you're trying to tell me. I don't blame you, or Edward, or the rest of the Cullens, if that's what you're all thinking. Although I do curse fate, or Karma, or whatever it is that threw this…this monster at your father and me."

She paused a moment, crossing her arms, leaning them against the knees she had once again pulled up toward her. "Charlie and I…" she stopped and looked at me and then glanced away, "we were just getting to the good part. I think."

"Catherine," I went to touch her shoulder and then decided against it when I saw her flinch.

"No, it's just that it was too fast. It's ok," she said, letting out a soft sigh.

I turned my legs closer to her, grabbing my knees, inching ever so slightly. I needed to change the discussion. "When I was turned, Edward did it to save me from dying after having Renesmee." I tried to simplify the tale of my daughter, her background, her biology, but Renesmee was not simple. I gave the short story of the honeymoon scare, the trip home, the family's and Rose's reaction, and the difficult pregnancy and birth. "Edward didn't want me to become like him, but at that point I was near death, and it was the last option."

She remained quiet for a while, and I assumed she was trying to understand, process, everything she'd heard. I thought that what I'd said, especially that last part, might help her understand Charlie's choice and the decision that he'd made.

"So Nessie is part _human_?" She looked directly at me and said almost in a whisper. "I mean Renesmee."

I wanted to laugh at her self-correction, but I didn't. "Yes, and it's ok if you call her Nessie. Everyone else does."

My smiled faded though as Catherine didn't say anything, and even without throwing my shield over her I knew we were thinking the same thing - the inevitability of the both of them crossing paths.

"Where is she now? I heard her voice; I heard her talking to Charlie." Catherine hugged her knees closer as she asked.

"She's at the Quileute reservation. You ran through their land the first time." A subtle tensing of her body made me sorry for mentioning it, but I continued. "The wolves you met? That's where they're from. Jacob is taking care of her, as well as his Dad, Billy Black, and a few friends. Some of them have been passed down the gene to protect the tribe. They're what are called shapeshifters. Most people think they're werewolves, but they're not."

"What no by the light of the moon, silver bullet stuff?" Her sarcasm reminded me of the woman I'd met two weeks ago.

"No. They shift at will. Sometimes, when they're new they have control issues too, with the shifting part. But they're friends. I've known Jacob since we were kids."

"You said, though, that Jacob's taking care of her. Are they close?" She asked, and I wasn't quite sure if she meant because he turned into a wolf, or if it was something else.

"Well, yes you could call it that. You see, Jacob has…well, he's been sort-of predestined for her since birth."

"_Predestined_?"

"It's called imprinting. Think of it like being promised to someone the instant they see you, but it's much more." I really didn't want to try and describe the whole imprinting thing now to Catherine. I had already given her way too much. "I'll explain it all when you and my Dad…" I trailed off as I watched her tuck her head into her knees.

"You've kept her away because of us. Charlie…and me." I began to realize just how smart Catherine really was, because I could recognize the guilt in that question. I wished Jasper were near, around, close, anywhere to help with some positive emotion, but I couldn't lie to her.

"Yeah."

The newborn thing." She sighed resignedly as her gaze came back up and she scanned the opposite shore. She had to be sensing the elk nearby, because I could smell them and they were quite tempting to me.

"Do you need to go feed, Catherine? I can wait here, or come with you. Whichever you prefer."

"I'm ok for now, although the burning in my throat is becoming a biiih, uh, increasing."

I smiled at her catch. "It's ok. If you need to go, just tell me before you disappear."

She stretched her legs out once more and turned, bending her knees to face me. "How long will you have to keep her away, Bella?"

I leaned toward her, making sure not to touch her, but I could sense that she was worried. "Well, I don't know actually. She wants to come back. She wants to see you and Charlie. She's not used to…not seeing everyone. It's only been 4 days for you, and my Dad's not even awake yet. I told Jake to tell her as soon as things calmed down here, but Renesmee's very used to getting her own way sometimes. That's our fault, though. We've tried to protect her for years now, and well…"

"Let me guess. Willful teenager?" She cocked her eyebrow in a most familiar way, and I had to smile. "Yeah? Lucky you. Half-vampire, half-human teenager. And you think Charlie and me are trouble? Bah."

I nearly let out a sigh of relief. This was the Catherine that I met in Charlie's kitchen, the beautiful, sarcastic, playful woman who'd somehow captured by my Dad's attention and heart all in a week. For two seconds, I thought of running back to the house and telling everyone. But as fast as she appeared, she left again, as she turned away from me to look out into the woods.

"Maybe I _should_ go. Maybe it would be better for all of you, for Charlie, if I left. Rose said you had…friends elsewhere that migh-"

"Catherine, no. We want you to stay. Char-my Dad will want you here…when he wakes up."

"Will he? What if he…doesn't? What if seeing me is just like a…a nightmare for him? What if I can't-"

"Catherine, if there's one thing I do know in all of this it's how my Dad feels about you. In my lifetime, I've never seen him with anyone like he is with you. Well, maybe my Mom, but I wasn't around to witness that. He'll bring those feelings with him, you can trust me on that."

"That's what Rose said." She offered flatly. "Bella, I just…when I saw him there, lying on the bed…" She flinched and I knew she was having another memory of that night.

"Please don't leave, Catherine. Not right away. Let's…see what happens, alright? Maybe…maybe…"

"Maybe I'll open my eyes and wake up." She finished for me, the words filled with hopelessness.

We both suddenly turned to our left sensing someone was coming, but it was Rosalie, and I saw Catherine visibly relax.

"You don't have to stay out here, Bella. They'll want to know what's happening out here, and you probably should check-in with Nessie."

"Yes, if only to make sure she hasn't driven them all insane." I tried to joke and slid down the rock.

"Bella?"

I'd been scanning for Rosalie to let her know it was ok to approach, "Yeah?" I looked back at her.

She stared at the ground for a few seconds before looking up at me. "I hope you're right. Rose, too. About Charlie."

"Still on the rock, I see." Rose being Rose had come up behind me. I appreciated the fact that she was trying to be herself with Catherine, even if it sometimes came off as gruff.

"Yeah, it's all about the amenities. I love the free shower gel and body lotion you get with this place." Catherine dead-panned back.

Somehow a joke, and a rapport, had been established between the two of them and I hoped it was another good sign.

"You're sure you want to stay all the way out here, Catherine?" Rose questioned as she climbed back up where I had been. I noticed Catherine didn't react. It was another good sign.

"Yeah. I think it's best for now. I have enough going on my head without all of you in it as well." She looked at me, "Please let the others know, especially Esme, I appreciate…everything, but I think the quiet, and both of you, are helping."

I nodded. "Of course. Ok, well then I'll go back. I'll…see you both later."

As I started to walk away, I wondered what Rosalie had said to Catherine, and would most definitely thank her later for whatever it was. Catherine had improved, and Edward, not to mention the rest of the family, would be relieved to hear it.

I reached the other side of the lake and turned back to give a wave, and then broke into one of my fastest runs. I needed to get out of hearing distance, but I knew Jasper would be waiting somewhere between them and the house.

About three quarters of the way back, I knew he was near, so I stopped and waited.

"Jasper, she's doing much-"

"Just come back to the house." His hand went behind my shoulder to lead me on.

"I was, I am…why? What's the matter?"

"Alice just came out to find me. Charlie's waking up."

* * *

A/N:

Um, so a little bit of a cliffie maybe. Yeah.

Let me know what you thought, if you so choose.

Thanks again and again for reading…


	24. Chapter 24

I know you're all just itchin' to get at this one, so I'll just blow kisses to my beta over on Twilighted, Jenny Cullen, and give my Pufferfish, HammerHips, some licks and gropes behind the curtain while you're all reading.

Everyone take one deep breath...;)

* * *

**Chapter 24**

Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela #3, Op 22

**CharliePOV**

I didn't know how much time had passed, but it seemed like centuries since Catherine had left the room. The only thing I was sure of at this point was that the fire was seeping away from my extremities, slowly subsiding from my fingers, my feet, up my legs, but heading toward my chest. All I kept telling myself was that this must be it, this must be the end.

'Bout damn time.

"Charlie, we're here. Carlisle, Emmett, Alice, and Esme." Esme's words were soft and comforting, but they did nothing to reassure me.

I wanted it to be _over_. Sure, the heat of the fire had been absolute hell, but not knowing what was going on with Catherine was complete torture. The heat dying back everywhere except for around the old ticker, it was even more aggravating waiting for the inevitable. Being a cop, or at least having _had_ been a cop, it was easy to notice the changes: the smells, the sounds, and how everything was stronger, louder, just..._more_. But that same cop in me knew every second was critical, and lying around waiting for this...this process to end, I was losing precious time if Catherine had disappeared.

"Charlie, it's almost finished. The venom will concentrate itself on a path to your heart. If you can hear me, try to give us a sign." Carlisle spoke in his doctor voice.

I tried wiggling my fingertips, when a hand suddenly came into mine, small and soft.

"We saw it Charlie. I should go get-"

"Yes, Alice. Please," Carlisle answered Alice before she finished.

Where the hell _was_ Catherine? It was fucking obvious she wasn't here, and even more obvious she hadn't come back, not to mention that Bella, Edward, Rose, and Jasper were all missing. Had she taken off? Was she gone for good? Were they with her? Did they even _find _her? Goddammit, I hated this feeling; I just needed to _do_ something, to have this be over, to wake up, and I could feel the hands holding me down as my body started to fight against them. Catherine needed me, this much I knew. I could feel something tugging at my insides, over the pain and the burning, but I couldn't explain it even to myself. I didn't want to think about if she was gone, or where she went, because it didn't matter.

_Never let me go._

Those four words that I had muttered what seemed like forever ago now meant even more, even to an idiot like me. I had promised to protect her from that asshole - from her fears, from being hurt - but now, they were so _much _more. There was no way on this green earth I would let her go, and there was nowhere _on_ this green earth that she would go that I wouldn't find her.

"Guys, he's got about three minutes and fifteen seconds."

Finally! The hand that had been holding mine disappeared, and I felt a rush of wind as it did. It must have been Alice holding it, and just as she gave the timecheck, she must've left. It was so weird that I even knew she was gone. Something about the smell, _her _smell, and it blew my mind that my senses were on overload, picking this shit up. Alice's update actually gave me some relief, although the...

Holy FUCK!

The life was being sucked right out of me, and it suddenly hit me that it _actually_ was. Shit, I was going to be a fucking _vampire_!

What the _hell_ did I do?

Too late now.

The pressure in my chest was becoming almost unbearable, some unseen force pulling it at it. I could feel my heart racing, and I thought maybe this would be the closest I'd ever get to a grabber. I thought of my pal Harry, what must've gone through his mind those last moments, and what he'd think of me now. _Fuck, what would Billy think?_ I didn't even have time to consider it, as my chest started to be pulled, my back coming off the bed with the pain and the force of it, and I couldn't hold back the yell.

"Unnhh!" The scream escaped, and in it was not only the pain, but a lot of the frustration that was bottled up inside me.

"Dad! It's Bella. I'm here."

Bella. I felt another rush of wind as she sat next to me, her smell instantly recognizable to me, even if she hadn't said a word - strawberries and some flowery something. My Bells. It only lasted a second, but I realized if Bella was here, who was with Catherine? Was _anybody_?

Damn! I couldn't think anymore. All I could do was focus on the raging inferno now centered over my ticker. It was as if someone had started a bonfire right over my chest, as my heartbeat slowing pounded out its last attempts.

Thud.

Thud.

Until it all went up into a giant vacuum, sucking the last bit of life out of me, everything coming to a sudden stop. In the same instant I opened my eyes, I looked around the room and saw all of them, Bella, Edward, Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Esme, and Carlisle, each staring at me, poised over me with their hands holding me down, as if they were on alert.

But no Catherine.

"You can let me go." Wow. My voice was weird, _everything_ was weird. I wanted to clutch my chest, take my pulse, pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Dad, not a good idea right now."

I glanced over to my right to where Bella sat, studying her hair, her face, her eyes. It was my Bells. I looked down at myself, and then around the room again, everyone staring at me waiting for some reaction, some...I remembered Bella had said something about _freaking out_.

"Bells, I'm fine. Actually, I've never felt better." It wasn't a lie. It was like I could kick ten perps' asses with one hand tied behind my back and no gun. My muscles were tingling, just itchin' to move, like I wanted to run a marathon. Fuck, I'd never run a marathon. But there was something else, something pulling at me, a need for...I shook my head to try and concentrate. It was like wanting a nice juicy steak, or a couple of beers, even more than that, but I wouldn't let it be more important than seeing Catherine.

"Where is she?" I instantly sat up, ignoring whatever the fuck it was, and felt hands go around my arms, my legs, my shoulders. My cast was gone, and I wondered when that had happened. I wanted to break free and go to _her_. Somehow, I knew if I tried, I could get past the Cullens, and I'd likely mess them up doing it. I couldn't do that. No. That wouldn't be right.

_Fuck!_ All of this shit flying around in my head...I didn't like it, and I suddenly thought this might be what ADD felt like. It was like a million and one thoughts and urges firing through me, stirring around in my head, and I had to stop them. I knew it was important to control them, to control me.

_Control_. Yes.

Then I noticed how when I talked, I didn't breathe in after. I didn't _have_ to breathe, and it was the damndest thing. So I inhaled not because I had to, but because that was what I was supposed to do, and the _smells_. They were like...holy shit. They were _everywhere_. It was like I was overwhelmed, and then I wasn't, but there was just so much, so many I didn't even know what they were. I closed my eyes, lifted my head, sniffing like some old bloodhound, but I couldn't find it. I couldn't find _her_.

My eyes flew open, and I tugged my arms from the hands that held me, breaking free from where Bella had gripped my wrist.

"Where _is_ she, Bells? Dammit, someone tell me!" I started to feel agitated, and something that sounded like a low rumble stirred in my chest. I grabbed at my neck, because the inside of my throat felt like sandpaper.

"Dad..." My daughter was speaking to me, but then I noticed it all: the little flecs of shit floating around, the amazing of color of everything, how I could see even the smallest gnat flying over by window, and then all of a sudden, my throat was on fire. Fuck, I'd had just about enough with the burning.

"_Damn_. What the hell-" I wanted to rip my own neck out.

"Dad, please. It's the thirst. We have to get you fed." Bella's hand was on my arm again, but this time, she didn't pull it.

"Charlie, Catherine is with Rosalie. They're out in the forest, just out of reach from Edward. Rose has been with her since she left your side," Carlisle said, and I looked over at him. I glanced down at his hands and then back up straight into his eyes. He got the hint and let go of my arm. His face gave away nothing, but it didn't need to. I knew it was bad.

"How is sheee? W-what is that?" It was like getting up from my chair after a few too many, or like I'd just got an IV full of morphine.

"It's Jasper, Dad. We, um, didn't tell you about him. He's an empath."

"A _what_?" I turned to Bella, still holding my throat, and then glanced over at Jasper.

"He can feel the emotions of those around him as well control them. He's trying to keep you calm now," Bella explained.

Damn, it was like being high or drunk or both. "Jasper, can you tone it down a notch? I'm flying here."

"Yes sir." Jasper complied, and the stoned feeling slowly lifted.

I noticed Alice's smile and said, "What?"

"You're doing great, Charlie. And you're looking quite good, all things considered. You're going to be fine." Alice kept smiling at me, and then glanced at Edward.

"I think we've just discovered where Bella inherited her control." I looked at my son-in-law, and his smirk told me of a joke I was apparently missing.

"Control?" Funny how I'd just been thinking about that. Hmm, smarter than I looked, apparently.

"Remember, Dad? I told you before how I didn't freak out when I woke up either." I sort of remembered the conversation. Something about Jasper, something about him being old, and then it came back to me.

"Oh yeah. You." I looked back over at Jasper. "You're the Civil War vet."

"Major, sir."

"Ahh, right." He was the Major who was going to show me the meaning of "old." Well, that ought to be interesting.

"I think we can let him go," Carlisle said as he glanced at Jasper, and Jasper slowly nodded, but not necessarily like he agreed. I could see his reluctance. Six sets of hands suddenly released me, all of them but Bella's resting on my arm, and Jasper's still close enough to my leg to grab it if need be.

I was free, and as much as I wanted to bolt, I needed for them to understand. And _I_ needed info.

"Just so you all know, I'm going after her. I know she's in bad shape. I knew it the minute she left this room. I also know you're all trying to hide it from me, so start talking, before I get really ticked off and _take_ off," I said in my best Chief voice.

Carlisle touched my forearm and squeezed lightly, trying to calm me. "You're right, Charlie, it is bad. She's having visions, flashbacks, to that night. She won't let anyone touch her, because it brings it back tenfold, and it's worse because she's a newborn and her reactions are literally instantaneous."

"At first, when she jumped away, it didn't even register in her mind, almost purely instinctual and an act of self-preservation," Edward added.

She doesn't want to be touched, and that was consistent with most rape victims. "Edward, I don't want to ask, but what else have you heard, in her head, I mean."

"Guilt, mostly, but a lot of confusion, which is classic newborn."

"She's having trouble coming to terms with..." Carlisle stopped.

"She can't come to terms with what happened, what you went through, with what you were forced to watch," Edward finished.

"What _I _went through? I went through nothing compared to her." I let out a long, frustrated sigh, and then Carlisle filled me in on what had happened the last few days. It took every ounce of that control I seemed to have to keep my ass on the bed.

"Dad, she's doing better than she was. I was just with her while Rose came back here for a bit. She's with her now again. But I can tell you that Catherine is mostly worried about you. She's a newborn, fighting to understand and overcome the turmoil that's in her head. She's embarrassed that everyone saw."

"You told her?" Emmett asked, shocked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Yes, I told her about Alice's visions," Bella answered uncomfortably.

"So Alice..._saw_ that?" I rubbed my forehead out of habit and nothing more. For the first time, I fully understood what Alice's visions were all about. She had seen what happened. _All_ of it. Fucking hell.

"I'm afraid we all did, Charlie. Bella has a talent, as well; one she apparently hasn't shared with you yet." Carlisle was giving Bella an effective Dad-like look, which rather impressed me, because it was what I did when I brought my stern face back to meet hers.

"Spill," I told her.

"I am what they call a shield, Dad. It's around my mind, and it's the reason that Edward can't hear my thoughts. I can project it to others, and when I do, I protect them from anyone who is attempting anything that will affect their minds. But when I do, I can also see in their heads. When I shield multiple people, we can communicate with each other through our thoughts. When Alice had the second vision, I shared it with everyone, rather that just retelling it. We were trying to get clues, find out if anyone had seen him before, anything that would tell us about this guy, anything that would help us stop him."

Okay, so my daughter not only had superpowers, but she used the Force.

They were all still looking at me, not saying a word, so I did. "And you told Catherine that everyone else had seen the visions, too." I hung my head as I shook it, closing my eyes. I didn't need to be Freud to know how Catherine must be feeling about that.

"Yeah. I was trying to explain how we had tried to help you both, how we thought we could get to him before he got to you, and it just sort of came out. I'm sorry, Dad."

I knew Bella had meant well, and I couldn't fault her for it. "It's okay, Bells," I said, reaching for Bella's hand. "Tell me more...tell me everything. I need to know more about how she is."

Bella looked over at Carlisle, and I followed her gaze as Carlisle continued.

"She's very confused, Charlie. Confused with everything she's feeling, seeing, and hearing. You see, she seems to have the same ability as Edward. It's a rare talent, and takes a while to get used to."

As Carlisle said this, I turned to Edward. "She can hear people like you can? Could she hear me?"

Edward shook his head. "Apparently not. She tried a few times when we were out in the woods. She picks up the same thing from you that I do. The emotions around your thoughts, just not the thoughts themselves."

Well, wasn't that just the shit. Catherine could hear people's thoughts, just not mine. It might've come in handy if she could've heard me when she was sitting here next to me.

_Damn fucking cursed universe_. Couldn't we get just one break?

"What else? Is there anymore I should know?" Even though I was afraid to ask, I did, looking back at Bella.

"Well, she's mad at fate or whatever it is you want to call it for Damian coming after you both. I think she feels guilty for us sending Renesmee away, too, although I'm not quite sure why."

I didn't even have to think about it. I knew why.

"I think it's because she has a soft spot in her heart for children. She couldn't have them...before." I figured it was enough of an explanation.

"Oh, that poor woman," Esme finally exclaimed, reaching for Carlisle's hand, and I found myself wanting to reach for Catherine's hand, but instead, I squeezed Bella's.

"Ow!" Bella yelped, and I glanced back to her. "Dad, you're gonna have to watch the newborn strength thing," she said, as she took her hand from mine and shook it.

"Oh, sorry, Bells. I didn't mean to..." I brought my hand up and looked at it, and then back at her.

"It's okay, Dad. You didn't break it, don't worry." She smiled back at me, and then her smile faded as she again took my hand in both of hers.

"She seemed to have had a really good conversation with Rose before I went out there, so Rose will know more, but she did tell me one other thing. Most of all, she's afraid, Dad."

"Afraid? Afraid of _what_?" After all that, I'd latched onto the word afraid. She had nothing to be afraid of now. The asshole vamp was dead, and I was here and a motherfucking vampire. Nothing would touch her. _That_ I was sure of.

"Of you not..." Bella looked around the room at everyone as if it was the first they were hearing this, too.

"It's okay, Bells." I nudged her on.

"She's afraid of what you'll be like after you change, that you won't want to be with _her_."

"_What?"_ I yelled as I jumped from the bed and landed on the floor just next to Bella. I noticed that I'd moved superspeed, but I couldn't focus on the vamp powers now. All that registered, all that bombarded my brain were Bella's words.

Suddenly, they all were around me in a half circle, pressing me back toward the wall. "Okay, I'm all right. Everyone calm down. I'm not gonna go all Tazmanian Devil on ya," I assured them, holding up my hands in a show of surrender. "But I need to go to her. Now."

"Charlie, it isn't wise. Not yet. We need to get you fed, to see how you adjust. While you're doing a remarkable job right now, very reminiscent of Bella, we're all just a bit concerned, considering there will be two newborns out there. One who is very unstable, or at least who was, and from what I can gather, trying to battle some very intense inner demons."

"Which is why I need to go to her."

"Dad, please." Bella begged. "She had a tough time the last time she saw you, here on the bed. She may not react the way you want her to."

"Charlie, seeing you lying on this bed brought on a wave of flashbacks for her. That's why she left the room and hasn't been back. Even though Bella says she's better now, there's no telling what she'll do when she sees you again. Like this," Edward explained.

Part of me knew he was right, and just at that moment, I caught my reflection in the mirror behind him. I looked the same, all but the red eyes. Those red eyes that I'd seen when I last saw her in the room before Carlisle... Fuck. It didn't matter. She needed me, and that was that.

I turned to Bella. "You and Edward can follow me if you want, but I'm going to find her."

"Charlie, Rose is still with her. You have time. You really should learn how to feed before seeing her," Carlisle said with some authority.

"She's in good hands, Charlie. Rose will know how to talk to her, what to say, because she's been there." Emmett's face tensed up at the end of his sentence.

I looked at them all and knew they were right, but they still weren't going to stop me. "I understand. I do. And I appreciate what you all are saying, but I know her better than all of you. But Emmett, I would appreciate a chance to talk to you, later, you know, about...stuff."

"Not a problem, Chief Swan. Anytime." His calling me Chief made me briefly think of my guys, where the investigation was, and what, if anything, was the story about Catherine and me.

"Anyone know how to backdoor past a security access code that's supposedly unbreakable?" One of them had to know computers and shit better than I did.

"Are you kidding? How do you think we've gotten this far?" Jasper smirked back to me.

"I figured. I need to go what's going on with all of this, where my guys are at with the investigation. I'm thinking all of you do, too. Jasper, I'll give you my access, but you're going to have to get in without them knowing how you're getting in. I know there's something you can do, I just don't know how to do it. I want to know what's going on, what evidence-if any-they have, and what story they're telling the media."

"Dad, they've been here once. Larson and Jones. They have nothing, except for what they think to be is your gun. Or what's left of it."

"How long ago?"

"Your first day. Three days ago."

Three days. Long enough to have ruled some things out, not long enough to have sifted through all of the ash that remained of the cabin.

"Have there been any news reports?" I glanced around at them as I asked.

"Just that you and Catherine are missing," Emmett answered.

They were still claiming us to be missing. That could be either the lack of evidence, or the general hope of my guys. Either way, they may never have enough to officially pronounce either of us dead. That might be a problem, but I wasn't going to tell the Cullens that yet.

"Okay, things might have changed. They could be hiding it. We need to know what they _really _know."

"I'm on it," Jasper said.

Esme opened a bedside table, and then handed me a pad of paper and pen. I snapped the pen in half before I'd even realized it. "Geez. Sorry, Esme." I sighed, looking at the pieces in my hand. Emmett snorted, but I ignored him, and glanced up to see Esme smiling at me with another pen already in her hand.

"Not at all, Charlie. Happens to all of us." She kept smiling at me as she handed me the new pen.

I let it just rest in my palm before trying to grip it, suddenly feeling like the village idiot.

"Now gently, Charlie. Handle it as if were Bella as a tiny baby." I glanced at Esme, and then over to Bella. She was grinning ear-to-ear, and I knew that the joke was on me. I tried to remember what I'd felt the first time I held her in my arms, and the memory was hazy, but the feeling I had, like I was going to drop her, wasn't.

I drew my fingers in as slowly as I could, self-conscious of everyone watching me. It took a little more concentration than writing ever had before, but when I finally had the code written down, I held out my hand for Esme to take the pen, and my other with the pad of paper toward Jasper.

"Well done, Charlie." Carlisle clapped me on the shoulder, and I felt like I'd just passed some major test.

"Okay, now that I have that down..." I hesitated. "Look, I appreciate what you all are trying to do, and I'll learn all of the vamp stuff just as soon as I see Catherine."

"Bella and I will follow you, Charlie, just in case. And while you're doing really well now, I'm not taking any chances." I could tell by Edward's stance that he wasn't going to give on that.

"Fine, but let me find her, okay?"

"Dad, we'll stay far enough away so as not to intrude. Don't worry."

I pressed my fingertips to the handle of the door, pushing on it gently to slide it open, willing myself to go slowly and carefully not to break the handle or the glass. I felt like I could send it sailing off the track and fifty feet beyond the house, which would probably have them all descending on me again, and that wouldn't do me any good. I didn't care that I hadn't "fed," as they'd called it. I didn't give a fuck that I was a newborn and supposed to be feeling all crazy and shit. All I knew was that I had to find her. To see her. Maybe even hold her, if she'd let me.

I wasn't prepared for what slammed into me the minute glass no longer separated my senses from the outside air. An unimaginable amount of smells fired at me, each unique and amazing and..._holy shit_. Bella had been right - that tightness and burning in the back of my throat, a need so basic, so primal, I almost lost myself to it. My hand once again clutched the base of my neck, and I swallowed what seemed like saliva, but thicker, sweeter. Something told me it was venom.

Screw feeding. Catherine needed-

Wham! It came at me like that bucket of water thrown in my face, and damn if it weren't the same feeling I'd had in the squad car what seemed like forever ago. It was the sweetest, most mesmerizing scent, faint at first, but as my feet moved out the door, over the patio and into the yard, it grew even stronger. I had tracked animals, humans even, but this... this was nothing like following the leftover footprints in the dirt, or the broken branches and torn leaves along a trail. Amidst all the distractions, all of the tantalizing possibilities that swirled around me, there was only one that held my attention now.

Lemons.

My feet started to fly, literally racing through the trees, and it was...fucking _wild_. I felt...alive...like I did as a kid racing through these same woods. Shit, I could really move, but all it did was make me more determined, because even with my newfound speed, there was only one thing on my mind.

I had to find her.

Edward and Bella followed me out, and I could sense that they were hanging back, just enough so that I would get to her first like I'd asked. Man, I so hoped Rose had helped, even just a little, enough so that I could get close to her. Catherine had gone far, wherever she was, and even though I was running faster than I'd ever thought my old bones were capable of, the strangeness of what I could do, how I could track her, did nothing to overcome the fear that once I found her, she would run again.

_Dammit, Catherine. I need you, and you need me. You have to let me in. You just have to let me help you_.

It was all I could think.

Only once did I get distracted from my course, something making my throat burn and ache even worse than it had been at the house. It took everything I had to concentrate on her, that scent that I thought had been her hair, but now represented all of her. Lemons and something I though might be vanilla, like frosting, and a perfume or some sort of flower. I didn't know much about flowers, just that the women liked them, but apart from roses, I couldn't tell the difference much. But this one, I had smelled it before. I just didn't know what it was.

The scent was stronger now, and I could hear her voice. She knew I was coming, telling Rose that I was not very far, because she could smell me. Hmm. I wondered what I smelled like to her. I hoped I got the chance to ask.

I ran the last mile or so even faster than I had been, hoping that Rose would keep her there. As I broke through a treeline, I came upon a lake where she and Rose were just on the other side. I stopped dead in my tracks, staring, for she was more beautiful than I remembered. Her skin, paler yet shimmering in the filtered sunlight, the mesmerizing curls of her hair even sexier, and she was _alive_ and whole; not smeared with blood and bite marks. _Catherine._ My fingertips tingled as I clenched and unclenched them, just wanting to put my palm on her cheek, to kiss her lips. Her eyes met mine, I couldn't help but inhale slightly. They were no longer blue, but somewhere between a darker orange and golden.

She suddenly slid off the rock she was sitting on.

"Catherine, please!" I begged her as I ran closer, not as fast as I had, but with enough speed to get to just the other side of the lake. I didn't want her to run. I just wanted her to give me a chance.

"Catherine," Rose said, lightly touching her arm, "just talk to him. He's still Charlie, and you're still you; you just have to find your way back. I'm going to return to the house, but you only have to shout, and someone will come to you."

Rose glanced back to me, and I nodded slightly, if only to convey that I understood. She was telling me I needed to take this slow.

"It's okay, Rose. Edward and Bella are somewhere near. I can hear Edward, even though he's trying his best to stay out." There was something different about her voice, I didn't know what, but her tentative grin as she eyed Rose, and then me, made my chest tighten. I remembered the full-fledged smile she gave me in the gazebo, strangely fuzzy, and yet I could still see it. I wanted to reach out, grab it, and stick it in the pocket of my jeans.

Rose patted her arm once more, and then ran up to me, mouthing the words, _It's going to take time._ "She's very willing to talk Charlie. Just..."

"I will, Rose," I said, glancing up and over to Catherine. "I understand." I looked back at Rose, and as she passed me, I formed the words, _Thank you_.

She smiled back at me and took off the way I had just come.

After she had left, though, I could feel the tension in the air as I turned back to Catherine. She wasn't looking at me, her eyes focused somewhere out across the water. I would have held my breath if I still needed to breathe. The silence dragged on, so I took a few steps toward her, the ache to touch her growing with every passing second.

She turned suddenly to face me, and for an instant, I saw her shock. "Charlie, your...your eyes. They're-" her head whipped back out across the field, and then down at the ground "-red. I'm sorry. I don't..."

I saw her fists ball up at her sides, and I could just tell she was struggling. Shit, my eyes were freaking her out. I forgot about the red.

"Don't, Catherine. You don't have to say anything, really. I just needed to see you, to..." My feet took a few more steps, but stopped when she backed away from me. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her, to smell her hair, to feel her body pressed up against mine, to let her know that everything would be all right. But seeing her arms cross around her, her eyes unwilling to meet mine, my insides began to hurt. I'd learned that maneuver when she was still human, the act of self-protection, and it told me just how uncomfortable she was.

"Please just give me a minute. I'm just trying to... to...it's just I keep..." She paused, her eyes squeezing shut and then opening, and I knew she was reigning in the nightmare flashes that I must be causing. "I just keep seeing your face bloody and beaten. I can't imagine what it must feel like for you to look at me, to know what he..." She turned to gaze back out beyond the lake. "To have to look at me and remember."

With those words, I felt a stab to my heart, a punch to the gut, and my jaw hit the ground, but it didn't stop the images that came in my own head, of her naked on that bed, of the asshole on top of her, of what he did to her, and my inability do anything about it. I rubbed my eyes trying to get them out. I glanced back up at her, and in that moment, I knew exactly what she was thinking, feeling.

"Why, Charlie?" she asked out into the distance.

"W-why what?" Okay, so I sounded stupid, but I really didn't know what she was asking me.

"Why did you do it? Why did you say it was okay?"

My head cocked to the side. I felt like making that noise that dogs did when they looked at you like you were five cans short of six pack. She wasn't referring to...say it was _okay_?

"What? Are you seriously asking me..." I stared at her over the ten feet or so there was between us, and for a minute, I still didn't understand. They had told me she felt guilty, confused, but no one had clued me into this.

"Are you asking me why I let Carlisle help you?" I asked incredulously, as I turned on my heels, my hand rubbing my head. Was she really asking me why I chose what I had? To do something, _anything_, over losing her? The woman could be so infuriating, and it made me want to go to her even more.

"What was I supposed to do?" I chanced a few steps closer, watching her surprise as her eyes came back to mine. It took everything I had to keep my arms at my side.

She didn't move.

"I had just...for chrissake, Catherine, I had just _found_ you. I mean..." _What the fuck was I trying to say?_ "We had just found each _other_. Was I supposed to just sit there and watch while you...while you were in pain, while you were bleeding to death, when there was something that could..."

Holy shit, was she really asking me _that_?

"Do you think I was just going to sit there and let you _die_?" The sentence floated between us, and I watched her face go from completely blank to what looked like pissed off. I couldn't believe it.

"Hell, Charlie, I...I don't know! Yes?" she screamed at me, her head falling into her hands.

Oh, no, no, no! She was not going to go there. I had to make her understand. "Catherine Scarlett O'Hara, in case you haven't noticed, I'm in love with you. There were two choices in front of me - let you die or save you - and I had to make a decision. No, it wasn't even a decision, because there wasn't a choice in the matter. I didn't care, as long as it meant we would be together. I couldn't..." I looked out across the water, focusing on a squirrel jumping in the tree tops a half a mile away. "In the cabin, I...I couldn't help you. H-he had me handcuffed to the couch. I couldn't...SAVE you, dammit! Not during...not while he..."

The memory of the fucker on top of her, of her cries, knifed into my head.

"But I was damn sure you weren't going anywhere, or becoming anything _else_, without me."

I couldn't remember a time where I had said so many words, explained so much of what I was feeling. This vamp thing made me feel, made me understand myself in ways I'd never known before. Or maybe it was just this woman standing in front of me, this woman who I knew I loved more than I'd thought I could ever love again. This woman who was asking me why I'd chosen to keep her alive, as much as it was, rather than letting her die.

"Hell, Catherine, I would've let us both become cockroaches if it meant we could be together."

Her shoulders hunched forward, almost as if she were crying, but I didn't hear any sniffling, until she rose up and took a step toward me.

"But Charlie, don't you understand? We're-" she looked around as if someone would overhear us, "-vampires. We want to drink blood, kill people." As if realizing she was too close, she took a step back and looked away. "How can I ever see my family again? Did you think of that? No, because your family is here. Every single one of them is a vampire."

Okay, she had me there. I hadn't considered that one, but I had only minutes to decide. Hell, I didn't even have that long to even understand what the fuck had happened.

"Well hell, Catherine, you wouldn't have seen your family again if you were dead either." I felt like shit the moment the words were out of my mouth, so I quickly tried to recover. "I don't know, the Cullens seem all right, and they don't kill people. At least none that I know of. And Bella...well, Bella is happy, at least she seems like it to me. At the time, the option of having you alive seemed a whole hell of lot better than having you dead." The anger building in me fueled the words, and as soon as I said them, I wanted to take them back.

"Tell me, did you know?" She glared at me.

"Know what?" I glared back.

"Did you know about them, what they were, what your own daughter was, son-in-law, granddaughter..." She trailed off as if she were remembering something.

Fuck. Here we go. "I, well, no, but yes."

"Charlie, you either knew, or you didn't. Which one was it?"

How could I explain? How could I tell her about the "need-to-know" thing that even then I didn't really understand?

"It's not that simple, really. I knew something was up with Bella, but things were better left unexplained. We called it the 'need-to-know' understanding. But I didn't know she was a vampire. I didn't know any of them were. And Nessie's not a full-fledged one. She's only half."

"Yes, I know." She turned away from me again, and I noticed her fists clenching at her sides again.

She knew? Of course she knew. Someone, Bella, must have told her by now to keep her and Nessie far away from each other. This was not going well, and not at all like I wanted.

"Catherine, please. I know it sounds crazy. Hell, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm in an episode of _The Twilight Zone_. All I'm sure of is this: I need you, and I wasn't about to lose you if the Cullens had the ability to keep you alive, even like this. I couldn't let you go. Not...not again." I took the remaining steps to close the gap between us, stopping just short of touching her. Even though they had warned me about touching her, it's all I wanted to do, as my hand reached for her until I willed it back down to my side.

But she saw it and jumped back. "Shit. I'm sorry, Charlie. Sometimes, it just happens. I..."

"Don't apologize, Catherine. I shouldn't have...done that." Dammit.

We both stayed quiet for an eternity, her staring across the lake, me staring at her, looking for a sign, a tell, anything that would give me hope. I wished for a moment that I had some sort of ability to read her thoughts, any ability to tell me what she was thinking or feeling. As time ticked by, her hands hugging her waist, I couldn't help the frustration that was boiling up in me. I wanted to reach out and grab her, shake her until she understood, but then the guilt nearly overwhelmed me at the violent thought. I could feel my own confusion and anger swirling as I fought to hold it back. This had to be the newbornness or whatever the fuck it was called. Maybe the Cullens had been right. Maybe I should've fed...

"Don't you see, Charlie?"

Catherine's question caught me off guard, and brought me back from wherever it was I'd almost gone. I half shook my head at her, not knowing how to answer.

"I look at you, and all I can think of is that night, all I can think of is what he did to me and to you. Of what you _saw_ him do to me. And I know you see it, too, when you look at me." She looked away once more, and I felt her slipping away. How to make her understand, to believe, that when I looked at her, all I saw was my beautiful Catherine, even more beautiful now, and _alive_.

"No, Cath. That's not it. That's not what I-"

"Yes, it is, Charlie. Don't tell me it's not. I don't know if I can live, if that's what we're doing, with that. Do you understand? I don't know how to get past it. I don't know if I can."

Suddenly, I was terrified, because her body language was signaling what I didn't want to see.

"Cath, don't. Please." I couldn't find the words, my hand finally flying out in front of me trying to get her to hold it.

She took two steps backwards, glancing down at my hand as she did. "You...you should've just let me die."

Before I could say anything, she took off running.

It took all of two seconds before I went after her.

**BellaPOV**

Oh Catherine, no!

I'd thrown my shield over Edward as soon as Rose had left them, only so I wouldn't have to keep asking him what was happening, my hope dwindling as the conversation went on. I really didn't want to listen, but I was afraid for Charlie, afraid for them both, what with Charlie not even having fed yet.

_Edward we should go after her._ But his hand on my upper arm stopped me as I was moving forward, and I retracted my shield.

"No, Bella. We shouldn't have been listening at all. Charlie will find her. They have to work this out between themselves."

"Bella! Edward!" Alice came bounding up from behind us, grabbing both our hands.

"What is it, Alice?"

"Come back to the house." She glanced at Edward, and then at me.

"But what about..."

"Just come. Everyone's waiting, because I've already told them. I'll tell you on the way."

I turned to Edward, his expression void of any hint to what I knew he'd just seen in Alice's head. "C'mon Bella, we'll wait for them with everyone else."

"But...Edward?"

Alice started to run, and Edward followed suit. What could possibly be so important at the house that we would leave Charlie and Catherine out here alone? I glanced back in their direction, wondering what was happening, if Charlie was okay. He needed to find her, to bring her home so we could all help her. I didn't want to even think of what might happen if he never came back.

"Bella, come ON!" I heard Alice voice call to me, and with just a moment's hesitation, I started to run to catch up to them.

* * *

**A/N:**

*ducks and hides* Well, you didn't think they were just gonna stop, drop, and roll right there, did ya? ;)

And just what did Alice see? Hmmm. That's coming up next week, my lovelies.

Thanks for reading and, if you should choose, reviewing! Luv you all!


	25. Chapter 25

Some quick smoochies to my Pufferfish, HammerHips, for loving this chappie and saying I "knocked it out of the ballpark" and to my uberbeta Jenny Cullen begging me for a sneak peek earlier in the week. She KNOWS I can't say no to her. ;D

Oh, and my girl, Alexis Danaan, who amidst all the fluffle and buffle that is her life right now, still demands my chapters. Luv you, darling.

Disclaimer: Twilight and I? Nothing between us. Edward and I? Well, that's between him and my imagination. ;D

* * *

**Chapter 25**

Wagner, Overture to "Tristan & Isolde"

**CathPOV**

I ached inside as I ran once more: ran away from him, ran away from what I'd said. Half of it just seemed to spew out without me even thinking. The way he'd looked at me when he burst from the trees, the hesitant and cautious way he approached, and those damn red eyes had touched off something within me that I'd been so close to restraining. Those eyes were no longer warm chocolate brown, and the way they looked at me made the memories flash once again. The cabin, Charlie, _him_.

I cried out with the frustration of it all. I knew I had lashed out at him-saying things, awful hurtful things-and yet I couldn't stop it, until what had been needling the deep recesses of my conscious for hours and hours came rushing out.

_You should've just let me die._

I knew I shouldn't have said it. I knew it was contrary to every bone in his body, agonizingly cruel for me to speak it, and I'd never forget the look on Charlie's face when I did; but now, I couldn't take it back. The torment and confusion had taken over, and whatever I had gained in the hours spent with Rose and Bella had been quashed. The _monster_ clawed at the opportunity, took advantage of my weakness, and swallowed my progress whole as he advanced out his deep dark corner. I couldn't fight it anymore-the internal battle once again raging-so I'd left Charlie standing there. I knew I'd cut him to the core with that last statement, his red eyes wincing just before I ran.

I heard his footfalls behind me, the crunching underbrush, the whiz of air as he ran, the snapping of branches as he came after me, gaining ground. But I couldn't make myself stop, as if flying through the trees once again would make it all go away. I hated myself. I hated what I'd become, and I didn't know how to stop the anger, how to quell the turmoil. I had no _idea_ how to reconcile the love I felt for him, for the loathing and disgust that I felt for myself. Rational thought was losing ground to the monster's bidding.

"Catherine! Stop!" Charlie yelled from closer still, but I kept running.

I wanted to kill, drain anything in my path, but I didn't even stop for that. All I kept thinking was that maybe if I ran far enough, fast enough, I could turn back time-like Superman flying opposite to the rotation of the earth to bring Lois Lane back to life. If I just...

He was behind me, and I sensed it, his hand reaching out to swipe at my shoulder, but I lunged forward, and it missed me. But before I could escape again, he grabbed my shoulders, turning me around, clutching me to him.

"Cath!" he gasped.

I pushed at his chest and tried to scream, but it wouldn't come out.

His arms went around me-one of his hands clenched my shirt between my shoulder blades, and I heard a rip-and the other pressed at the small of my back.

I shoved again against the wall.

Against the monster.

_No, please, not again. _

He was stronger than me, and I was trapped. I shut my eyes, unable to escape, every muscle in my body frozen.

"Catherine! Baby..._please_ stop. _Please_ don't run. You're gonna be all right. I'm here now." Charlie's voice.

It was as if time stood still. For a split second, I expected the rush of images-of _him_ holding me down, of what _he'd _done, of the Cullens restraining me-to come flooding back. I waited for the inevitable, thinking that any moment, I would be ten feet away and wouldn't remember how I got there.

But it never happened.

"_What_ the..." Charlie gasped.

At first, it was just a spark that seemed to come from his hands, but then it just kept _growing_. I could feel it surging through me, like that first shot of whiskey you can just feel going down your throat, the heat of it as it travels to your stomach. But even that wasn't it, because this wasn't just my stomach, but all _over_ me. It was so much _more_.

His hands pressed me closer...it was as if it all just...melted away. The anxiety and the fear were gone, replaced by what I could only describe as an all-encompassing warmth, an electricity that seemed to emanate from him in currents, little threads which wove themselves into a blanket. It surrounded me, enveloped me, and flowed through me. I inhaled slowly, letting it spread through me, eliminating all hurt and pain in its path.

"Holy shit. What the hell _is_ that?"

I felt his hand at my shoulder blade rub a slow circle until it came to the base of my neck, his other arm wrapping around my waist.

"You...you feel it, too?" I exhaled into him, relaxing my cheek into his chest, my hands reaching around him to bring me closer still.

"I feel...something. I can't describe it. Before, when I first held you, it was...it was godawful. Until a second ago. Now, I only feel...I don't know what I feel, but it's _wild_."

"I...I know," I said, rubbing my cheek against the soft cotton of his t-shirt. "It's...it's incredible. It's like something coming from you. I don't know. I can't explain it, either, but _please_ don't stop doing it," I whispered into him. It was as if the dark switch had been turned off, or the cage tightly bolted and sealed, all of the painful memories replaced by each and every time Charlie had held me like this: when I'd run out of the woods into his arms, in my kitchen at the cabin, on his couch, and the wonderful night in his bed. All clear, comforting, and the most precious memories I'd seen in days. I didn't want to open my eyes. I didn't want to do anything that would take away whatever was happening.

"It's like I'm feeling you, Charlie, energy from you. It's...it's making all the bad stuff, the images go away."

He didn't say anything, but I felt his lips brushing my head, his hands now caressing over my shirt.

"Before, when I first I held you, all that hurt and fear, was that what was inside you?" he asked, his hand now running over and through my hair.

"If it was the worst feeling you've ever felt, yeah, I think so. But now... it's different. It's like you wiped it all away. Oh, _Charlie_." I buried my face in his chest again, knowing if I were still human, the tears would've been free-falling.

"Aw God, baby..." he whispered in my ear, his lips softly touching. "I'm so sorry. I'm ..."

"Shhhh." I pressed my lips into his chest. "Just keep holding me like this." I couldn't help but get lost in the smell of him, each distinctive one calling me-the salty sea smell, the fresh evergreen, the _chocolate-_melding together and reaching deep inside to pull me out of the darkness.

His arms pulled me closer still, the ache in his voice increasing. "You don't know how crazy I was. When I was lying there, not knowing what happened to you. I heard you when you came in. I _smelled_ you. And that song, and..."

"Charlie, I'm so sorry I ran. I just couldn't take seeing you...seeing it all...again. You lying there-"

"No, no Cath. It's okay. Don't go there." He suddenly gasped. "I can...I can feel it _in_ you." As he spoke, another wave of that incredible warmth washed over me.

"But Charlie, the pain you were in, seeing it was like seeing you in the..." I tried to explain.

"Shhh. Don't think about it. I'm here. I've got you, and whatever it is I'm doing, I don't plan on stopping." He planted soft kisses in my hair to punctuate each thought, until he stopped, the side of his face against mine.

"But please. _Please_ don't ever run from me. Don't...don't _ever_ leave me again." The words were spoken softly, achingly, his lips in my hair, and with them, a whoosh of longing, of regret, of panic, panic like a child lost and frightened, came with them. The understanding washed over me as I suddenly realized _his_ greatest fear.

The big, strong, once human now vampire, man was afraid. Afraid that _I_ would go away.

Just like Renee.

I slowly brought my head up, my eyes searching for his, no longer scared of what I would see. They were darker now, almost burgundy, and gazed back at me with uncertainty and worry. I saw past the color into the soul of the man I'd fallen in love with, and I was nearly overcome with the need to take away _his_ worries. I slowly brought my hand up, running my fingers over his jaw, and then his cheekbone and into his hair, every press every touch, a renewing. My knight in shining armor had rescued me again, found the bridge over the moat, and had freed me from the Tower of Hell. But this time, it was my turn, because he needed to be rescued, too.

"Never," I vowed, letting him feel my conviction.

His eyes wandered my forehead, my face, my lips, as he started to relax, and I felt his relief flow into me. The corners of his mouth started to form a smile. "You are so beautiful, woman," he said, kissing my forehead. "I don't care whatever voodoo shit is flowing between us right now. I don't care what we are, or what we do, or whatever lies ahead. All I know is that I will..." His gaze held mine. "I will _never... ever...let you go_, Catherine Scarlett O'Hara."

I glanced at his lips, and I was suddenly flooded with the absolute need to touch them with my own, as the want, the ache from inside him rushed into me. His head slowly came down, hesitant and unsure, as his hand came up over my shoulder to cup the side of my face. But I didn't haveto read his mind, because I could feel _his_ need, the twinges of something I thought might be lust, and the effort he was taking to control it all. Within me, he battled my fear, crushing it down, far away and back into its cage.

"Catherine, I...I don't know what's happening. All I know is that I don't want to hurt you, and yet, all I want to do-"

"I know, Charlie. I know. Please just..."

I started to rise up on my toes, my lips seeking his to show him what neither of us could put into words. Our movement back to each other seemed slower than slow motion, until our lips finally met, their touch like a shockwave, an earthquake, an explosion. The sheer intensity sent tremors through us, and we both gasped, not letting our lips part.

"Damn," he said against my lips, until he captured my upper lip between his own, tugging it slightly. He was so tender, so soft, and completely opposite to the energy I felt flowing from him. As if he too were fighting something, an uncertainty mixed with urgency.

Suddenly, his lips were gone, and I opened my eyes to see him staring at me, searching my eyes for something. He stepped back, his hand falling from my cheek, both running over my shoulders, down my arms, and then back again, surveying every inch of me to make sure I was okay.

But he didn't need to.

Nothing bad, nothing negative, nothing _evil_ would ever again exist within me as long as his arms were around me. I'd never been more sure of anything in my life, or even now, in this second chance at one.

He slowly brought his hands back to the sides of my face, holding it in them.

"I _love _you," he whispered.

My eyelids slowly closed as the corners of my mouth lifted, until I opened them again to see his grin matching my own. "I love _you_," I whispered back at him, and tried to make him feel just how much. I couldn't remember a moment where those three words felt so inadequate, so incapable of expressing everything I wanted them to. But they were all we had, and between those three words and what flowed through us as we said them, it was _more_ than enough.

He wrapped his arms around me again, clutching me to him, and it was then that I realized how tightly he was holding me.

"Um, Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"You're going to crush me," I squeaked against him.

"Oh sh-aw hell. This strength stuff is going to take some getting used to." I smirked as he sputtered, and lessened his hold, until his hands were rubbing my upper arms.

"I think we both have to work on a few things," I tried to joke.

He slid one hand down to take mine, and I noticed the overwhelming sensations from him die back just a bit. He noticed it, too.

"Did you feel that?" he asked.

"Yeah." I looked at his hand holding mine. "It's like something comes from you, Charlie. I don't know what it is, but whatever the hell it is, it's...helping. I can't even explain to you how much."

"You don't have to." His other hand came up to hold mine between the two of his. "They told me what happened the last few days, about you, about what you were going through."

I didn't outwardly wince at the thought of what the Cullens must have said, mostly because Charlie was still holding my hand, but he must have felt something, because he jiggled it, making me look up at him.

"Hey, what do ya say we go find a nice spot somewhere, just you and me?" he asked through a grin, but I could feel his concern.

"Do you think that's such a..."

_"It's okay, Catherine. Bella, Jasper, and I just came out to check on you both, but we'll be heading back. You and Charlie take your time, but please come back to the house when you can. We need to discuss things, if and when you're ready."_ Edward's voice in my head made me stop abruptly, pulling Charlie back. _"Oh, and Alice says to tell you you'll both be fine."_

_"Alice said...is she sure?" _That was a dumb question.

"_No, it wasn't, and yes, she's sure,"_ Edward responded, and I could feel his amusement. "_See you when you both get back to the house. We're all glad you're doing better._"

"_If you say so, Obi Wan. We'll be back in a bit." _I chuckled to myself at the Obi Wan bit.

"_Very funny_." His sarcasm was evident, even in mind-mojo.

It was the weirdest thing to have a conversation with someone solely based on thoughts, but as I smiled to myself, I noticed how Edward hadn't intruded up until now. I wondered what he had heard, or not heard, because frankly, I hadn't heard anything from him; not that I'd been paying attention.

Charlie noticed my distraction. "You there?" he asked, rubbing my hand between his.

"Yeah. That was Obi. I mean, Edward."

"Obi? As in Obi Wan? You called Edward, Obi Wan?" he asked, amazed, followed by a snort.

I couldn't help but giggle. "Mmmhmm. They came out to check on us, but are going back now. Alice said we'd be okay. But I think we should walk back a little, just in case," I suggested, as his arm came around my waist, pulling me close, and the wonderful mixture of his love and all it offered encompassed me. "Edward will be easier for me to reach, and he can let the family know if we need them."

"Lead the way, Luke." He smiled down to me.

"Pah, I'm not Luke. More like Leia. She's kick ass, and Luke's sister, so the force was just as strong in her."

I had taken a few steps forward as I said it, and only noticed Charlie hadn't when his hand suddenly tugged me back. I turned to look back at him, and he was grinning ear-to-ear.

"What?"

"You know Star Wars, too." It was a statement rather than a question. "That's just..." He shook his head and walked up to me. "What are the odds..." he nearly mumbled, and wrapped his arm around me.

"Never tell me the odds," I quoted back, and he laughed out loud.

We walked at nearly a human pace for a little while, not speaking, but meandering with Charlie occasionally kissing my hair, or our hands swinging. We experimented with different touches, how little and how much we needed to be to feel the energy passing between us. Soft hugs became a slide out to mere fingertips, both of us sending different emotions to each other and trying to identify them. Much to my surprise, Charlie was quite good at identifying mine, and I was as close to happy I had been in days. Until we came upon a small clearing in the trees and decided to cop a squat. Charlie knelt down, pulling me with him, never once letting me go. He had been holding my hand in some way the entire time, and we only had to remind each other once not to squeeze too hard. Even knowing my own strength and the fact that we were both newborns, I could tell Charlie was stronger than I am. I tried to keep from telling him this, because I didn't want him to be afraid of touching me. What his touch did for me was almost like a miracle, and I laughed out loud at the thought.

"What's so funny?" he asked, laying back, pulling me with him, setting my hand on his shoulder still holding it in his. I rested my cheek on his chest, and noticed the silence under my ear where once I'd heard his heart beating strong.

"I was thinking about what happened. Between us. This feeling you give me-and I thought it was like a miracle. I laughed, because a miracle hardly seems likely to happen for vampires."

He snorted, playfully running the hand not holding mine over my back. "Yeah, although I'll gladly take this one, if that's what it is." He inhaled deeply, and my head rose and lowered as he did. I could feel his nervousness building, but I didn't know why.

"How was your chat with Rosalie? They told me when I woke up you were out here with her."

"It was...good. She...you know about Rose?"

"Yeah. She had Bella tell me, before I...er...changed. She wanted me to know. In case...so that I would know that there was someone to help you while I was out of commission."

I wanted to ask Charlie what he and Bella talked about, but I didn't want to pry. I hoped that someday he would tell me, but I knew now wasn't the time.

"Did she help you?" Charlie moved onto his side, rolling me to mine, his fingers tenderly moving the hair out of my face so he could see me.

For some reason, I felt embarrassed to look up at him, remembering my conversation with Rose. In some ways, it felt forever and a day ago; in others, like mere moments ago. I didn't want Charlie to see the uncertainty I was feeling.

"You can't hide it by not looking at me, you know, because I can feel it buzzin' around inside you. You don't have to tell me what she said, or what you said, or any of that. Someday, if you want to, that'd be great-" he poked at my chin to get me to look up at him, "-but I need to say something. To you."

I wrapped my arm around his waist again, snuggling in closer. "Okay," I said rather timidly.

Once again, he was getting nervous.

"What is it? I can feel it's bothering you. Whatever it is. Just tell me," I whispered up into his neck.

"I just...I said I would protect you, and I'm...so sorry I didn't," he said as his fingers gently brushed over my back and stopped. "I'm sorry I couldn't-"

"Charles Thomas Swan, don't you dare." I drew my head back away from his chest again, and he caught the back of it in his hand. "Don't you for a flippin' moment blame yourself for this."

"Flippin'?" he questioned, giving me a rather bemused, if not confused, look.

"I censored the fuckin' part," I said, snuggling back into him.

He busted out laughing, falling backwards and bringing me with him. His laughter not only shook me, but the intensity of it went through me and made me laugh like I was being tickled.

I settled back onto his chest, my hand reaching up once again to hold his shoulder. His mood changed once again, so quickly in fact, I wondered if he was thinking something, or it was some newborn effect. I looked up, and his head was resting on the arm not around me, looking back at me. His eyes were even deeper burgundy, nearly black now. Why was his eye color getting darker?

"None of this is your fault, Charlie. If anything, it's mine. If I hadn't come here, if my car hadn't broken down, you would still be..."

"Don't you flippin' go there, either." He smiled, sliding his hand up to run his fingers in my hair. "I wouldn't trade you, this, for being human again, if it meant you weren't with me. But what you said before, about your family, there's gotta be a way, although..." He let his head fall back, looking up into the sky.

"Although what?" I prodded.

He sighed again, and I felt a twinge of anxiety from him. "Well, according to what I know, I think it's best if everyone thinks we're both...dead. My guys won't stop lookin' for us if there's even a clue we're not. We can't let that happen now. We can't be found. Bella's made it very clear that no one can ever know what we are."

Relaxing back into him, I noticed he was calmer, but I couldn't help stick on what he'd said.

_No one can ever know what we are._

We were vampires, Charlie and me, and although we were together, and I felt nearly whole again in his arms, a simple question still plagued me.

"I just want to know why." As I said it, a quick flash of me standing behind Charlie in the cabin came back.

_You see, Chief Swan, my initial mission was only for the woman._

I sat up so quickly, I nearly pulled myself out his reach.

"Hey!" he said, catching my arm and sitting up with me. "What is it?" he asked, concerned, his hand moving to my back, softly rubbing.

"I...remembered. Something he said in the...cabin." I flicked my head, trying to erase the rest of that night. "He...he said he was on a mission. A mission for _me_."

His arms suddenly were around me, pulling me to him, his head on my shoulder, gently rocking us both. I knew he could feel the mess that was inside me as the memory came back. Again, I felt the push of energy from him trying to help me relax, but this time, it wasn't as easy.

"Yeah, I remembered that, too. I told Edward and Bella while you were... before I was changed." He started a slower rocking, taking my hands in his and wrapping them around me, holding us both.

"He'll never hurt you again, baby. It's okay." His soft whisper into my ear sent another wave of warmth through me. "I don't know what it means, and I have no idea what he would want with you, and neither did they."

"Charlie, do you think it has something to do with _them_?"

He stopped rocking us both, and I knew by the silence his mind was churning.

"I don't know. But they didn't know him. They'd never seen him before, and they told me that. Bella didn't tell me about him, because they thought they could handle him. He had some sort of power or something that kept them from finding him. I don't know, I don't. . ."

He stopped for a moment, and I turned in his arms to look at his face. "What?"

"He could literally hide himself, you...you can read minds. I wonder...I wonder if what I'm doing, how I can help you, is something like that?"

Was _that _what this was? This...whatever Charlie did to me? My hand seemingly inadvertently grabbed his and held it in mine, staring at them both, feeling the connection and his confusion at what I was thinking and doing. After my change, I could read other people's thoughts, all except his, and Bella's for that matter. Bella had called herself a shield, but I didn't feel shielded by whatever Charlie was doing, I just felt...

"Safe," I said out loud, looking at our hands together.

"Safe. Yes. You are, and you always will be, if I have anything to say about it." His fingers spread open, and I wove mine between his. The gesture was simple, and yet it was outwardly symbolic of what it felt like when he held me.

Charlie had some sort of power, an ability to transfer a safety net-his love-to me, and I could feel whatever was stirring inside him as well.

"Damn, woman, what the hell is going on in there? You're like an F3 tornado right now," he joked.

There was no other explanation for it. Charlie had a gift of his own, and however it worked, whatever it was, it took away all of the confusion, the fear, the pain from the deep recesses within me. It _shielded_ me, the real me, from the monster that threatened her very existence.

"Holy shit." It kind of just slipped with the sudden monumental revelation. "Charlie, you..."

But my surprise at what I'd figured out fell completely by the wayside when I gazed up into his eyes again.

"Charlie, your...your _eyes_. They're not red anymore. They're..._black_."

He slipped his hand from mine and rubbed at his throat.

"Yeah, I think I need to eat. Or drink or whatever." I noticed the change in his voice, scratchier, and knew immediately what he was feeling.

"You haven't fed yet, have you?" I turned completely around kneeling in front of him. I grabbed his shoulders, studying his face, feeling how uncomfortable he was getting. "You came out here after...to find me... and you haven't-"

"Yeah, well, I had bigger fish to fry than...doing that." He tried to play it off, but I could see from his expression it was getting worse.

I grabbed his hand and stood up, bringing him with me. "C'mon. We need to get back. They have to help you. I don't know if I'm capable of showing you myself."

He tugged my hand, bringing me back into his arms. "How hard can it be? I mean, I just tear into their neck, or artery, and suck, right?" He smiled down at me, and I shook my head at his flippancy.

"Seriously, Charlie, how are you doing it? I was like...I was a maniac when I...when I woke up, and all of that other stuff on top of just wanting to drink, even though I didn't know what it was at the time."

"Well, I don't know, but I think I'm about to find out, because my throat is on fire."

His head suddenly reared to the left, and mine followed, the scent of something big and mouthwatering wafting to us both. A low rumble started in Charlie's chest, building until it came out through his clenched teeth.

"Charlie?"

My confusion was lost on him as he shoved off from me and sped off in the direction of it.

"Charlie!" I yelled, taking off after him.

I couldn't believe how fast he was, but then the smell of the animal, one of those antlered things, became stronger. My anxiety started to return, as if a crack in the dam had opened. Charlie's touch was gone, his protection gone with him. I struggled to keep focus, to try and stay with Charlie, but something was taking over, that delicious scent and the absolute necessity for it.

_Edward..._

**CharliePOV**

I had to have it.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I realized I'd left Catherine standing there, alone, but I couldn't bring myself to stop.

The fire in my throat was damn near what my body had been like, and the pure flavor of whatever it was-in through my nose and over my tongue-was only second to the torture of burning during the change. Rushing toward the scent, not even thinking about where I was going, what I was doing, nothing but having to have whatever it was. I wasn't even sure where I was going; my feet were just taking me to it.

Until I was nearly upon it. I watched as there were two elk grazing next to the lake that Catherine and I had just been near...

_Catherine_...

I lunged at the one nearest to me, taking it down, not even thinking through the motions, plunging my teeth into the part of his neck that I just knew would give me what I needed.

My teeth pierced the flesh, and I drank, the thick liquid taking out the fire as it ran down my throat, and for a split second, I finally realized what I was doing.

This was blood I was drinking-blood from an animal-but I didn't give a fuck.

It was satisfyingly sweet, and I sucked and sucked until I felt the life leave it, feeling its dead carcass shrink against my hands, until I dropped it on the ground.

I sensed her before I saw her.

She ran on the other side of the lake, chasing what must have been the one that got away from me. I took off after her, running on the opposite side of the water, and it was like some sort of an adrenaline rush.

I reached the other side, and she was out of sight, but I followed her trail, sprinting, not completely understanding why I wanted to, nor if it was her, or...more blood. A low rumble in my chest made me slow up.

Did I want to get to Catherine, or what she was running after?

Blood. I wanted more, and she would get to it before I would.

I ran through the trees until I heard it. The sound of it. Liquid being sucked like a sound through a straw, or sliding past teeth, and then...a moan. A moan that went right to Charlie, Jr., and between the two of us, we were the entire U.S. Army at high alert.

I tracked her scent and that sound, unable to concentrate on anything else, and came upon her as she knelt over it on the ground, drinking.

I didn't think I could I get any harder, watching her mouth sink deep into the elk's neck, her body draped over it, controlling it, stilling its last movements, the sounds coming from her.

Then I did.

I nearly dropped to my knees, trying to fight whatever it was that surged through me. I wanted her, and yet I knew it was wrong to want her so fiercely, so violently, but I couldn't stop. There, where she was, in the middle of a forest, because for some reason, what I saw was the hottest thing I'd ever laid eyes on.

Suddenly, she stopped. Her head darted around and our eyes met, and for a moment, I just wanted to tackle her. No, take her against a tree, ripping her clothes from her, hearing her scream my...

What the _fuck_ was I thinking?

"_Char_lie."

My name came across her bloodied lips in part-whisper, part-moan as she looked at me. It was a look I'd seen before, and it sent a direct signal to Charlie, Jr. The intensity of her eyes, combined with the absolute lust in me, sent me flying across the distance that was between us, unable to control myself. She launched into my arms, my hands on her ass, her legs wrapped around me, our mouths crashing together in an almost insatiable need, our tongues driving, demanding. The energy flowing between us was like a hum, little vibrations from her into me, me into her. My brain was on overdrive, my body taking over, as her strong legs squeezed tighter around me, pressing herself into me. And Charlie Jr.

I wanted her. Here. Now.

I dropped to my knees with her still in my arms, laying her back on the ground, her legs still around me. I left her lips to nip over her chin, and over to her ear, my tongue leaving a trail of fire in its wake, my teeth skimming the warm skin of her neck. My hands went to the front of her shirt, buttons popped, material tore...

And then I felt it.

A blast of pure darkness that made me inhale sharply, my lips leaving her skin, my eyes searching her face. She had gone completely still in my arms. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her hands no longer on me but spread wide on the ground, her fingertips digging in the dirt.

Then I saw them. The bitemark on her neck, the one on her breast...

_Omigod, what have I done._

"Catherine!" I cried, trying desperately to close her shirt, her bra that was torn in two. I lifted my body, balancing on my hands on either side of her. She didn't move, she didn't speak. She wouldn't open her eyes.

"Catherine!" I yelled again. My hand reached behind her, lifting her into my arms, cradling her, trying to undo whatever it was that I had done by whatever it was that I could do. I pushed all the love for her that I had in me as hard as I could, a fuzzy memory coming back to me-my bedroom, her in my arms, just like this, crying into my shoulder. The nightmare. Except this time, she wasn't frightened of a stalker, a psychotic vampire.

This time, the nightmare was me.

"Oh, Cath, please, please open your eyes. It's me, it's Charlie. _Baby_..." I cried again, rocking her. I could feel it all. Her confusion, her anguish, her embarrassment. It was all there, and like a black cloud, it had rammed into me, nearly smothering me in the depths of it.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." I begged, and her eyes suddenly fluttered, her hands reaching for my chest and then around my neck, holding me for dear life.

"Ch-Charlie?"

She sounded as if she could be crying, and she clung tighter to me, almost uncomfortably, but I couldn't tell her. Not after I'd nearly...

"I don't know w-what happened."

I kept rocking her. "No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have...God, I'm so stupid. It was just... I couldn't...stop it," I tried to explain.

"I know, it was like...I wanted you. I did. And then, when you laid me on the ground, it was...it was...I tried to make it go away, but I couldn't stop seeing..._him_."

"Shhhh. I'm such an idiot, baby. Shit, what the hell was I _thinking_?" I kept rocking her, the both of us, feeling the black cloud slowly retreating.

"You weren't thinking, Charlie. You were reacting. It's called being a newborn." Jasper's voice came through the trees, and I started to feel his effect on both Catherine and me.

My head turned in his general direction, as Catherine buried her face in my neck. The embarrassment flowing from her was almost as much as my own, but Jasper was doing his thing, and I could feel its effect on both me and Catherine.

"Catherine, you called to me just as Alice was seeing it," Edward said, as he, Bella, and all of the Cullens appeared.

Geez, nothing like an audience.

"I'm really sorry. It was a little too quick for me." Poor Alice looked like she'd already gotten hell from the family.

"Yeah, me, too. Almost," I tried to joke, holding Catherine a little closer.

Catherine's head popped up off my shoulder, staring at Edward, giving him a slight nod, and then looked up at me. I softly grazed her cheek with my hand, moving the curls from her face, picking out the sticks and leaves that were in it. I'd nearly hurt her, hurt in the almost the same way as he did. Calling myself an asshole simply didn't cut it.

As if sensing what I was thinking, she sat up, taking my face in her hands, her eyes doing that searching thing in mine again, and I waited. I didn't know for what, but I could tell she was better now. My feeling like an ass started to reel back, as something that felt like playful was coming from her. I couldn't help but watch her as she slowly came forward and kissed my lips. Light, but just right. That zing, that whatever it was, went through me as her lips met mine, and a grin curved the corners of her mouth.

"Baby steps, Chief," she whispered, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Rose smile and take Emmett's hand, leading him back to the house.

"Yeah. Baby steps. Got it."

She mystified me, entranced me, and held me in the palm of her hand. I wonder if she knew that, and if she did, what she would do with that info. I smirked back at her, the blackness completely gone, and reached under her knees to gather her up into my arms as I stood up.

"Yo, Chief, I can walk."

I caught her eye and then took it down to the front of her shirt. As if just realizing, she grabbed it with her hand and held it shut. She looked toward the Cullens, who had turned and already started to walk back.

"C'mon, you two. Come back to the house. We should...talk," Carlisle said, taking Esme's hand and running after Rose and Emmett.

Bella smiled back to me, and then turned to run with Edward, as Jasper and Alice went with them.

"Rose is gonna be pissed about this shirt," Catherine said as I started running with her in my arms to follow.

* * *

A/N:

*wipes the tear* Ok, yeah, so I couldn't stand it any longer, much like you all. I'm a sucker for the kiss that rocks the world, and I'm not ashamed of it. ;D

But overcoming just one obstacle doth not an epic romantic journey make.

As always, thanks so much for reading. Reviews or feedback of a simple *sigh* or *sniffle* are most welcome.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Hello all of you lovely readers. I would highly suggest a comfie spot for this chappie, because at just over 10,200 words, it is by far the longest yet. A LOT of shh-, um, stuff in this one.

So quickly, love to my wondrous beta Jenny Cullen, and my own little Pufferfish, HammerHips, who, I think, read this chapter at least three times cuz I kept changing it. LOL! Mwah, darling.

Once again, I own nothing Twilight, and if I did, well...you'll see _eventually_.

* * *

**Chapter 26**

Bach, Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582 (arr. L. Stokowski)

**BellaPOV**

When Alice had first come out to get Edward and me as we eavesdropped on Charlie and Catherine, I couldn't imagine what could be so important as to pull us away from watching two newborns: one who just happened to be my father. But when we were far enough away, she and Edward had turned back to give me a smile and I thought everything would be fine, whatever Alice had seen. Then once inside the house she told me what she had seen of Charlie's ability, and how it would reach Catherine. Everything _had_ been fine, even as Edward and Jasper ran back out moments later to make sure. Edward heard Catherine and reported back to us that they were going for a walk.

I should have known.

What felt like only minutes later, a vision had Alice bounding off the couch, Edward out the door and halfway into the yard calling me in a way that almost made me shudder.

Now, as we all trickled back to the house, Rose and Emmett were already waiting for us, Catherine still in Charlie's arms as they brought up the rear. He let her down only after Catherine insisted she was perfectly capable of walking the last few feet up to the house. I held a straight face as Charlie acquiesced, but looked none too happy about it. Only Alice, Edward, and I knew what had really happened, since Alice saw the sudden change in Charlie, and Edward heard Catherine at the last minute. The way Edward yelled my name and how I ran out the door with Alice had the rest of them following on pure alarm.

I'd thrown my shield over Edward as we ran and he let me see what Alice had seen: Charlie running wildly after the elk. The vision frightened me almost as much as the ones of Damian, seeing my Dad out of control like that. All I could think of was what might happen if he ran into a human. I was all too familiar with the possibilities and inevitabilities of newborns, but Charlie had been doing so well; I internally chastised myself for not having been more adamant that he feed beforehand. It was just a little odd telling a parent what to do, even though I'd always thought of myself in the parental role with both Renee and Charlie. However, fixing dinners, cleaning the house, doing the laundry were rather passive actions compared to demanding your own father learn how to feed on the blood of animals. The knowledge that I had in this particular situation - the knowledge of _his_ new world - was much more than his and I should have known better.

I wouldn't let it happen again.

As we left the house, everyone knew it was it emergency by the way Edward had called my name and how Alice and I had flown out the door with him. Not knowing what Charlie would do, where he would go, I became even more afraid when Alice and Edward had stopped momentarily in the middle of the woods. I'd thrown my shield up once again, unable to keep myself from seeing what may have been happening to Charlie. At first, I was embarrassed, seeing the two of them so passionate, but when Charlie tore through her clothes and she suddenly froze underneath him, I'd thought that all the ground that had been gained over the course of the day had been lost. A mere glance from Edward to Jasper had them sprinting off again, my shield retracting, and the rest of us following.

When I saw Edward's jaw clench tightly as we were running, his pace slowing as his face crinkled in what looked like physical pain, I realized that he was not only seeing it from Catherine, but feeling something from her as well. We all heard Charlie's pleas, begging her to open her eyes, so I pushed myself to run as fast as that night we were all trying to get to the cabin. As Jasper answered Charlie's questions ahead of me, I finally broke through the trees and saw them both. Charlie rocking Catherine in his arms even as her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck made everything inside me ache for them as I held back a gasp. I caught a glimpse of the bare skin of Catherine's stomach and the tear in the back of her shirt, and I understood what Edward had been so affected by.

What had started out as a feeding frenzy had turned into something more, and Charlie's panic at Catherine's state had now turned into confusion and embarrassment at our arrival. If not for my worry for Catherine, I would've felt immensely uncomfortable at the revelation of what could have happened. But when Catherine had told him "baby steps", and then gingerly kissed him, I knew they were over the worst of it. When Charlie lifted her in his arms and she sarcastically protested, it finally registered they were going to be ok.

When we arrived back at the house and Charlie had finally put her down, Catherine quickly held together the edges of the button down she was wearing with one hand. I watched as Charlie scrutinized her first few steps, and as her hand came back to beckon his, he nearly jumped to take it. When their hands met, she glanced up at him and he brought her hand up, kissing the back of it; Catherine looked down smiling as if she were embarrassed that we were all standing around for this quick affectionate moment between her and Charlie. I stood nearly awestruck, for this was a side of Charlie I'd never seen, one that I'd never witnessed with Sue. Even I had to admit how dashing Charlie was being.

"Rose, I'm sorry about your shirt." Catherine's gaze found Rose amidst Charlie's distraction, and tugged at the button placket she was holding as she spoke. I wondered if she knew about the tear in the back of it, but it was most likely better if she didn't, so I didn't say anything and neither did anyone else.

Rose chuckled, "Catherine, if I had a dollar for every shirt Em's…" she glanced at Emmett and then back at Catherine and just smiled. "C'mon, we'll find you something else."

"I think I know just the thing," Alice chirped, skipping forward up to the patio doors.

Catherine started to follow and Charlie's slight tug on her hand as she did made her turn back to him.

"I'll be downstairs with the rest of them. _If _you need me." Charlie said as he walked up to her. Her eyes lifted from where their hands were holding, back up into his.

"I know. I can handle this, Chief." She smiled back to him, and went through the door with Rose and Alice following. I didn't miss the way his eyes followed her or his slightly furrowed brow as she walked away. He was still worried.

"Charlie, why don't we all go inside and talk as a family." Carlisle motioned toward the doors, and Charlie took the lead walking through them as Esme, Edward and I went in, Jasper and Emmett following. Carlisle took his place at the head of the dining room table as we filed in, Esme at his left, Jasper to his right.

"Dad, we usually have all important discussions here." I tried to explain.

"Really." It wasn't a question. "Well, I kinda figured you didn't eat at it." His pursed lips said _duh, Bella_.

"Here, Charlie, you can take my spot." Edward motioned to the other end of the table, taking a seat to his right and me to his left.

Emmett suddenly sat straighter in his chair with a slight grin on his face. "It's where we voted for Bella to-"

"Em!" I cut him off.

The look Charlie gave to Emmett and then to me was one I'd seen before. He just shook his head in that "I don't even want to know" kind of way until Carlisle began.

"Charlie, do you want to tell us what happened out there? How is she?"

Charlie's shoulders slumped slightly as he looked down. "I think she's better, better than she was. She had me really scared there for awhile."

"We basically know up to the point that you caught up with her after she ran. Edward and Jasper had gone out to check on you both when Alice didn't see anything and when Edward didn't hear Catherine. But something happened between the two of you. You were able to…calm her?"

"Yeah, it was…unbelievable. It has something to do with when I touch her. It makes her feel better. No, it's not just that." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck trying to find the words. "It's like she gets what's inside of me, and I get what's inside of her."

"Her thoughts?" Edward asked.

"No, not thoughts. More like…sensations. I can feel it when it comes out of me."

Carlisle stared intently at Charlie across the table. I could tell the attention was making Charlie uncomfortable and it reminded me of myself. "Charlie, tell me, can you see it?"

"See it?" He looked up at Carlisle, and then down across the tabletop again.

"Flowing from you. Does in manifest itself as anything? When Bella projects her shield, she can actually see it leave her. Do you see anything like that with Catherine?" Carlisle probed.

"Uh, no, not that I've noticed." He shook his head, leaning into his arms already resting on the table. "But I _can_ feel it. Catherine said it's like energy moving or something, kinda like when you accidentally shock yourself on something low-voltage. Not enough to kill ya, but enough so you feel it whiz through you."

Carlisle rubbed his chin with his hand, staring down at the table. From upstairs, we could all hear Catherine politely rejecting whatever it was that Alice was suggesting she wear. I looked from Carlisle, back to Charlie and couldn't help but be a little excited. I could tell by the way he was looking down at the table he was trying to remember seeing anything.

"Dad, can you show me? I mean, can you do it to me?" I asked curiously.

After hesitating only a second, Charlie glanced up at me. "I don't know. I haven't tried to with anyone else."

I reached my hand across the table, "Here." Charlie looked at it, and then took it in both of his own. I didn't feel anything at first, but Charlie tugged my hand.

"Bells, maybe try giving the old man a hug. It's how we first, well, how it first happened." His half-grin told me he was a little bashful in asking. I stared at his face for the briefest of moments, and realized it was all I'd wanted to do since we'd found them both in the woods. I got up and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, as his arms went around my waist. I'd hadn't had time through the chaos of the last few days to tell him how much I loved him, and how thankful I was that we was here, with us, with me.

"Dad, I…" It was like a five foot wave crashing into me, a warm powerful wave but not the kind that would frighten as if a powerful current would take you under with it. It was comforting, reassuring, and I thought that perhaps if I weren't a vampire, it would have been breathtaking.

"My Bells." He said into my shoulder.

"Dad!" I tried to speak, to form coherent sentences, but I couldn't. I just wanted to feel whatever he was sending. I'd never been so sure of just how he felt about me until now.

Love.

It was unmistakable.

"I take it you're able to show Bella?" Carlisle asked from the other end of the table.

"Yep. But I didn't see anything."

I pulled out of his arms to look into his eyes, seeing the grin that was there. "Oh yeah." I answered. I smiled back and kissed his forehead before going back to my chair. I caught Edward's grin across the table.

"What?" He was staring at his folded hands, and it was then I knew he must be hearing something from upstairs.

"It seems you and Catherine have a lot in common." He said more to everyone, then just me alone.

"Edward, is she ok?" Charlie turned to him concerned.

"She is. It's still there, the anxiety, but she's keeping it in check. Rose and Alice are doing much to, uh, distract her." Edward held his grin. "She has quite the language, doesn't she Charlie."

Charlie looked around the table and I nearly giggled. "I…uh…yeah, she gets to the point on occasion, yes."

"I can hear you all, you know." Catherine's voice suddenly came from upstairs, and Emmett snorted, the rest of us holding smiles.

Charlie just grinned, folding his arms as he sat back in his chair. It was a look of pure admiration and love for the woman upstairs, and I'd never been so happy for him.

Emmett sat back in his chair, grinning over at Charlie. "Chief, I think I know one like that."

"Emmett darling, I can hear you as well." Rose voice came down to us, followed by laughter.

"I'm not saying a word." Jasper muttered, as Alice called down, "Love you too, Jazzy!" and we all couldn't help but laugh.

"Charlie, you'll have to show me this talent of yours soon, but for now we have to discuss some things." Carlisle looked across the table.

But it was Jasper who started the next line of conversation. "What we need to do first is find out if this guy had a base of operation. It's bound to hold some clues. Something tells me he wasn't just hanging out in the woods all day," he said, as Rose, Alice, and Catherine came downstairs and joined us.

"I'd say what did we miss, but…" Catherine walked up and stood next to Charlie. He turned to look at her, bringing her close with his arm. As he did, he took in her new shirt, a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt.

"Jasper, I hope you don't mind, but Alice-"

"I don't mind at all, Darlin'. Alice hardly ever let's me wear it, but it's one of my favs so promise to be gentle with it."

"My, aren't you the southern charmer. I promise to take _very _good care of it." She smirked back at him.

Charlie eyes lingered on the shirt. I thought he was ogling her at first, but…

"What?" Catherine busted him and his eyes flew to hers.

"You were wearing a Zeppelin t-shirt that morning. At the diner." He answered, trying to hide the smirk that was forming.

"Yeah, I was, wasn't I? It's a lucky shirt of mine." She smiled back at him. "Alice insisted I wear this one." She glanced at Alice.

"Yes I did." She winked back at Catherine. "Jaz, you don't mind. I know you don't." She took his hand in hers.

"Like I said, Catherine, not at all. I think it looks a might better on you anyway." He smiled that Jasper smile at her and Alice giggled.

I looked at Edward and him to me. I was pretty sure that we no one knew what the diner meant.

"So, where were we?" Edward set us back to task. "Jasper, you and I should be the ones to go out. Emmett, you should stay here, just in case." Edward turned to look over his shoulder at Emmett, who was standing behind Rosalie now, having let her have his seat between Esme and Edward.

"Yep, good idea." Emmett said.

"I'm coming, too. I may be able to help once we're out there." Alice posited.

"Me, too." I piped up. This was my father we were talking about.

"Well, no offense people, but I am, _was_, the cop. I should go with."

"Dad, there's no way…"

"Charlie, I'm afraid you're going to have to stay here. We can't let you around humans this soon, and no telling where this hunt will take the boys, and you girls." Carlisle nodded at Alice and then me.

"I'd like to help, too. After all, it _was_ me he was after, right?" Catherine leaned closer into Charlie as she said it.

"No way, baby. If I stay, you're definitely staying." Charlie tugged at her waist playfully, and she elbowed his upper arm.

"Ow." He only half joked, rubbing his arm with his other hand.

"Bella, I think you should stay too, you can…"

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, don't you dare start that early 20th century …

"Masen?" Catherine suddenly gasped. "_Masen_? Wait. Who was Masen? M-A-S-E-N?" Catherine stood up straighter turning to Edward, complete shock on her face.

"I was a Masen, yes. My human surname was Masen, until I joined Carlisle. I took on his last name, we all did, when we pretended to go to school as adopted siblings."

"Your…your _father_ was a Masen? Where are you from, originally I mean?"

"Chicago."

"Shutthefrontdoor!" Catherine exclaimed.

Edward burrowed his eyebrows with a look of confusion as Catherine glanced down at Charlie.

"So are…_you_." Charlie uttered, turning up to face Catherine. At first he seemed confused, until his eyes grew wider.

"Did he have a sister?" Catherine's gaze flew back to Edward as his eyes started to dart around in thought.

"Yes. Margaret. Catherine, who is _that_… _you_? You're…"

"Holy hell." Catherine's hand flew to cover her mouth, as she looked around the table and then back at Edward. Edward eyes didn't leave Catherine's. I couldn't tell what was happening and just as I was about to throw my shield, Catherine turned to the table.

"Margaret Masen was my great-grandmother. Edward is…"

Edward stood abruptly out of his chair sending it back a good foot or so, staring at Catherine in what looked like mirrored shock, until a grin started to form. "I believe, Miss O'Hara, that makes me… your great, great, uncle."

"But…but you all _died_. I've seen your headstone. It was the flu or something. Grandma Mary told me stories about all of you. You, your mother and father. How Great Grandma Margaret missed you all so, even all those years after you were…dead. She named her second son after you."

"She…she did?" Catherine merely nodded in response to Edward as he ducked his head. Catherine must have been giving him thoughts or memories or something, I couldn't tell, but Edward's grin grew. "Aunt Margaret. Yes. I…I remember just a small bit of her, but she had your spunk, that much I do remember. She was quite a woman. You apparently take after her." He laughed as he said it.

"You _knew_ her." Catherine took a step forward toward Edward, and he her, his hand reaching out as to formally introduce himself.

"Nice to meet you, um, I think that makes you my great, great, niece?" He laughed.

"I think…so." Her still-amazed eyes went to his outstretched hand, and then back up to his face, "But in my family, we give hugs when we first see each other." Catherine arms went around Edward's shoulders, her one hand on the back of his head. "My God, this is…this is _unreal_."

"I guess we've also figured out where _you_ get _your_ ability from." Edward said, looking over her shoulder at Charlie, and then me.

Catherine stepped back from him, her hands softly touching his cheeks. "Nice to meet you too, _Uncle_ Edward." She smirked back at him.

"Well, I don't know about you all, but if I could tear up right now, I think I would." Emmett joked, and Rosalie turned to give him a look. "What, I'm serious. This is the closest I'll ever get to a family reunion."

Carlisle and Esme burst out into laughter, and I saw as he grabbed her hand, and she brought hers over his. Everyone joined in the laughter mostly because we never thought after everything of the last few weeks that we'd ever laugh again. I couldn't remember a happier time, unless Renesmee was involved.

Renesmee. I needed to call her, to tell her the good news. She would be absolutely overjoyed to know that Edward and Catherine were related. No, I needed to see her, and made the promise to go to La Push as soon as we were done searching for clues. I would call Jacob to tell him we were coming. Edward and I should go together.

"Well, I myself hate to break up this family _reunion_, but we should really go see if we can find anything about…" Jasper hesitated as he stood from his chair, "well, I guess you could say the vampire who brought you to us, Catherine. And while I for one am grateful for your presence here tonight, I am NOT in the slightest bit happy about how you got here. So let's go find all we can on this…Damian character. Shall we?"

Edward, Jasper, Alice, and I stood up from our chairs. Edward and I had reached the living room when we suddenly heard Jasper.

"Alice? Alice what is it?"

Edward had turned a split second before me, reaching for my waist and pulling me closer. In that same moment, Catherine inhaled sharply and Charlie reached for her arm. I had my shield over Edward before Charlie could touch her.

It was Aro, in a room, talking to a woman, but the images came in bits and pieces. Each flash had a new piece of furniture crashing into the walls of what looked like a bedroom.

"Sulpecia, we will not speak of this!" He turned and was immediately in front of her.

"Aro, I demand to go with you on this journey. I want to rid the world of them as much as you do. Look how angry they make you."

And it was gone.

But it had been Aro.

"Alice, are you alright?" Jasper held her shoulders. "Another vision. What did you see?" Jasper asked her in a soft but eager voice.

"Cath?" Charlie ran his hand from her arm down to her hand.

"Who…was _that_?" Catherine turned to Alice.

"Yes, I'm alright. It was Aro and…Carlisle, who's Sulpecia?" Alice turned back to the table as Carlisle stood. Charlie stood too, pulling Catherine back into him, his arms possessively around her waist.

"His mate." Carlisle answered. "What did you see, Alice?" Carlisle asked again. Alice retold the very short but revealing scene.

"There's only one _them_ that she can be referring to." Jasper said, his hand going to Alice's cheek, as Alice pulled him closer to her.

"Wait, what? Who's Aro? And Sulwhatta?" Charlie looked from Jasper, to me and Edward, and then across the table at Carlisle.

"I'll explain everything to you Charlie, you and Catherine." Carlisle puts his hands on the top of the table, leaning forward onto them, studying its surface. Esme moved next to him, softly running her hand over his back. His eyes rose up from the table, glancing at each of us. "It looks like what we feared might explain all of this."

I noticed Edward hadn't moved, hadn't said a word, his eyes concentrating on the floor. My shield still over him, he started repeating Catherine's name, as if he was trying to call to her, until his head popped up.

"Catherine?" He called to her and she glanced over to him as well as everyone else.

"Yeah?"

"I…I can't hear you." Edward brought me forward with him as he went to stand in front of her. He was right. He couldn't hear her, and _I_ couldn't hear her. As if just realizing Charlie's arms were still around her waist, she glanced down at them and then around the room.

"I can't hear you either. I can't hear _anyone_. I can only feel…Charlie." She turned to glance up at him and then back at Edward. "Hold on…" Catherine pushed his arms down and stepped away from him. "Holy shh…it's like someone just dumped me in the middle of all of you. As soon as I moved away from Charlie." She looked around the room and then at Emmett. "Wondertwin powers, huh?" She smiled and Emmett smirked back.

"Charlie, whatever you did, whatever you can do, it blocked everyone from _her_ mind, and _me _from hearing her." Edward said, staring at Charlie. "When you were outside, when you were in trouble, you were holding her, weren't you?"

Charlie stared at Edward, and then pulled Catherine back to his side. "Yeah. Yeah, I was. Until I smelled that elk and then…"

"That's when you ran, and Catherine was alone. That's when I heard _you_, Catherine. When you said my name."

I looked from Catherine to Charlie. He was blocking everything, everything that had to do with her mind, just like I could do with my shield. Yet, he…"It's like my shield, but he's…touching her."

"Yes." Edward pulled me closer to his side.

"But why did you, Obi, hear me when Charlie said we should go find a spot?" Catherine asked.

"Obi? Nice." Emmett snorted.

Catherine stepped away again from Charlie, but kept hold of his hand. She closed her eyes, Charlie looking at her, and then Edward.

"Very funny." Edward responded.

"Well, at least you heard it." Catherine smiled back.

"Um, hello? Can someone please tell me what it is I'm actually doing?" Charlie's frustration at being out of loop was evident. I held in my laugh.

Catherine walked back into his arms, her hand on his chest. "When you hold my hand, I can feel you but it's less so, like we noticed in the woods. But I can still hear Edward. When I'm like this," she looked at Edward and then everyone else, "I can't hear a thing. It's quite…nice, actually." She smiled up at him and then rubbed her hand on his chest.

"Well, I think we have ourselves another shield in the family." Carlisle said smiling from the other end of the table.

Charlie glanced at Carlisle, then Edward, and then me. "Well, great. Now that we've figured that out, but it still doesn't tell me who this Aro guy is, who 'them' is," Charlie looked pointedly at Jasper, "and what Alice just saw that has everyone all of a sudden so nervous."

"Bella, I think you're father needs to know a few things." Of course Carlisle would state the obvious. Of course Charlie needed to know.

I looked from Carlisle to Charlie. Oh, brother. How could I tell him what I'd kept secret from him? What I had done, all the lies, the deceit, just to keep him safe…_alive_. Edward's subtle squeeze of my hip was his way of telling me I needed to speak. "Dad, if you don't mind hearing it from Carlisle, I think I'd rather be out of the house, no, as far away as I can get for this."

"Isabella Marie Swan…_Cullen_." Charlie pulled the middle-name card thing, nearly forgetting my married name.

"Dad…"

"Fine," he huffed. "Go. Carlisle here will fill me in. That doesn't mean you're getting off scott free, daughter." Catherine caught my eye as she bit her lower lip. "See, right about now, I could really use a VitaminR." Charlie said, sitting back down in the chair. Catherine went to stand behind him rubbing his shoulders in what looked like an attempt to relax him.

"Well Chief, what say you and I go for some Cougar AB+ in a few?"

"Nice, Em." I muttered.

Rose shoved against Emmett's chest and sat back down in the chair she had been in.

"Sheesh, just trying to lighten the mood a bit." Emmett said as he took the chair next to her.

"Carlisle, while you're fillin' in Charlie and Catherine, we'll go see what we can find. If what Alice just saw is any indication, then Aro knows…something. There has to be a trail. We'll call if we find anything. Alice, Edward, Bella?" Jasper took Alice's hand as they ran out the door, followed by me and Edward. I was more than glad to hurry out, because I didn't want to be anywhere near Charlie once Carlisle filled him in.

**CathPOV**

I moved over to the chair that Bella had been in on Charlie's left, his hand grabbing mine as it left his shoulder and I sat down. To say I sat nearly stunned would be the understatement of the year. First Edward, then Charlie and his ability, but it was Alice's vision that still bothered me. I'd seen it just as she did, and whoever Aro was, he scared the shit out of me. Long black hair, red eyes, skin as cold and dead as the rest of him, I nearly shuddered. The Cullens clearly knew who he was, especially Carlisle. Then there was Bella's reaction to whatever Carlisle was about to tell Charlie. The thoughts of those left at the table weren't exactly comforting.

_Charlie is gonna freak._

_I hope Bella has a good hiding place._

_I wonder how Catherine will take…_

Carlisle's voice pulled me away from what I was hearing in my head, starting with the history of the Volturi, his brief past with them, why he left, and the fact that they basically held dominion over the entire Vampire world. In his head, I saw glimpses of them, what looked to be the three in power: Aro, Marcus, and Caius. They looked older than dirt, scarier than all hell, and I couldn't believe Carlisle had ever been a part of…that.

Geezofuckingpeet. A whole world filled with vampires. Who knew?

But as Carlisle went on, I realized this wasn't a joke. Vampire Law was strictly upheld, and they were ruthless in their punishment. Most still hunted humans, and with this detail, flashes of Damian started to appear – his twisted face and evil smile. Charlie's words from the woods came back to me.

_Bella's made it very clear that no one can ever know what we are._

My head twitched as I tried to clear the images, Charlie sensing it and tugging on my hand.

"Hey, you don't need to hear this if you don't want to. Rose can take you-"

"No. I mean yes I do. Just…just don't let go of my hand." As I said it, he scooted his chair closer to the table, his one hand holding, his other softly going over the top of mine. It helped a little, Charlie sending me what he could, but I could feel his nervousness too even though he was trying to hide it.

"Go on, Carlisle." Charlie said, looking down the table.

Carlisle hesitated. "Charlie, I need to tell you how this all started. About Bella and James. Victoria and the newborns. And the wolves."

Charlie sat up straighter as Carlisle began the story of how Bella came to know of Edward and the family, the incident with the van and how Edward had really saved her. How Bella had figured out what Edward was, and how she had once come to the house of a family of vampires all because she was in love with a boy who was just as in love with her, but who was more afraid that he would kill her. How a simple game of baseball turned into a horrific flight to save Bella. How she hadn't fallen down stairs and crashed threw a window in Phoenix, but had been chased by a vampire named James hellbent on killing her. Carlisle called him a tracker and then explained exactly what that was. How he had bit her, and Edward had sucked the venom from her to keep her human.

All the while Carlisle talked, I saw events replay in his head: Carlisle treating Bella in the hospital after the van incident, the first time she met the family and how nervous she looked, all of them in a field playing baseball until three threatening vampires came out of the woods, the Cullens' race to get to what looked like a dance studio to see Bella writhing on the floor in a pool of blood. Jasper, Alice, and Emmett ripping James apart as Carlisle and Edward tried to save Bella.

"Just…hold on a minute, ok Carlisle?" Charlie sat back in his chair, taking a deep breath, pulling my hand with his. It was a good thing Charlie couldn't see what I could. The calm that he had been giving me was gone, and I felt the confusion, the disbelief, the utter shock that was coming from him. All that surrounded by a cloud of guilt.

"Hey?" I asked, his eyes staring at the edge of the table, distant and immersed in trying to digest what he had just heard.

"There's more, Charlie." Carlisle said.

"Perhaps Charlie needs a break. Perhaps you both do. Do you want to go on a hunt and then come back and finish?" Esme offered.

_He hasn't heard the half of it._ Emmet's voice in my head made turn to him in surprise as he slightly shook his head. Geez, there was _more_?

Esme's sweet voice seemed to jar Charlie from wherever he had been. "No. No, it's ok, Esme." I looked back at Charlie, his eyes meeting mine. I wished so much at that moment I knew what he was thinking, but I could feel the shock abating, and something like concern for me beginning to take its place.

"Cath, you alright? I mean, that's was a hell of a lot of-"

"I'm fine." I lied, momentarily forgetting I couldn't lie to him.

"Yeah, right." He said, sitting up again, reaching for my forearm and holding it to his chest as he once again turned to Carlisle. "Alright, hit me with it. It can't be as bad as a vampire biting my daughter and my not knowing."

Carlisle didn't say anything at first, and I glanced across the table to see three very uncomfortable looking people whose eyes wouldn't look up. Even Emmett looked scared. Their collective thoughts were nearly the same phrase.

_Uh oh._

That's when Carlisle told Charlie of Bella's birthday party, and of what happened when Edward left and they all left with him. How Edward had only wanted to keep her safe, safe from their world, safe from vampires.

Once again, the images came from Carlisle: a papercut from a present Bella was opening, Jasper unable to maintain control and flying after Bella. Edward coming home to tell the family they needed to leave Forks immediately.

Carlisle continued out loud. They would have stayed away, if it hadn't been for Edward thinking she had died cliff diving, and went to Volterra to end himself, to the Volturi to ask that they do it, since a vampire can't commit suicide unless he throws himself on a fire. How Bella, along with Alice, had arrived in the nick of time, convincing Edward that Bella was still alive, and how the Volturi only let the three of them go when Alice and Edward promised that Bella would be changed. She knew too much about them.

I didn't want to see anymore of Carlisle's memories, but I didn't know enough to stop them. Charlie evidently didn't realize that I was seeing anything, as he sat transfixed, staring at Carlisle. I looked at his hands hugging my arm and I wasn't sure who was helping who anymore, his hold getting tighter as his insides churned. Carlisle, Esme, Rose, and Emmett sat more still then I'd ever seen anyone. They looked like statues in a museum, as they waited for this part of the story to sink in, their minds concentrating on anything – sports, gardening, the latest issue of Vogue – anything to keep me out.

Charlie suddenly blinked, looking straight at Carlisle, "Where's Volterra?"

Carlisle inhaled deeply, sitting up slightly in his chair. "It's in Italy, Charlie."

"Italy? Bella went to ITALY?" Charlie suddenly stood up and started to walk the floor, his hand running over the back of his head as Carlisle remembered telling Esme what was happening and her screaming.

I didn't know what to do, and I looked across the table at Rose whose face showed concern but her mind only showed a double page spread on the latest from Prada, as she gazed back at me. I sat back in my chair, flexing my fingers in my lap until I finally folded them tightly together trying to contain my building anxiety. Charlie didn't need to worry about me too. He had enough to worry about.

"Yes. Charlie, you do understand that I would've never let anything happen to Bella. She's like our own daughter. But she was determined to leave with Alice, and there was little time."

Charlie suddenly stopped and turned back. "When he _left_ her. She went to Italy when she told me she went to California to find him."

"You don't know how grateful we all were that she saved Edward, Charlie." Esme's comforting voice began. "She's the only one who could. If any of us had gone after him, had gone near him, he would've ended himself before we got there because he could hear us before we were even close. Bella's mind is the only one he's never been able to hear. She's the only one who could literally sneak up on him. I owe her my family, Charlie. You raised a very brave girl."

"She was a danger magnet, though, back then." Emmett smiled, looking up at me and then over to Carlisle. "Well, aren't you going to tell her about Victoria?"

"Victoria? Who's Victoria?" Charlie's hand dropped from where it had been resting behind his neck and walked back up to the table, slumping back into his seat.

"Do I even want to hear this?" He asked, his eyes going around the table. I glanced down again in my lap, trying to hide from him the swirling inside me, squeezing my eyes shut to make Carlisle's thoughts go away. I needed to get a grip.

"Cath?" Charlie's hand rubbed my upper arm and then reached for my hand, squeezing it gently in his own.

"I'm ok. Really." Again with the lie. I was such a shitty liar to begin with, but the energy flowing from me was a dead giveaway.

"Do you want to go take a walk, maybe?" Charlie suggested, and his concern was not only evident in his voice but the feeling flowing through my arm.

"No, no." I opened my eyes and glanced over at Carlisle. "Is there anymore we should know, Carlisle? Because if there is, now's the time. Just dump whatever there is. I want to know it all." It was the truth, in a way, and I summoned all the strength I could muster. I needed to face this new world if I was going to live in it.

_Catherine, please just give me a sign if this is all too much for you. It's mainly about Bella, but I can see how it's affecting you. I can always tell Charlie the rest later._ I just shook my head in answer to Carlisle.

Carlisle began again, describing the relationship between James, the vampire who had come after Bella, and Victoria his mate. How when they had killed James, Victoria had decided to build an army of newborns to come after the Cullens, Edward, but ultimately Bella. How they had joined forces with the wolves and defeated them all. I saw most of it through Carlisle: Victoria, her flaming red hair, the newborns racing out to attack, the wolves joining in. There were a lot more wolves than the three I'd met.

Charlie sat back in his chair again, looking like he had just been punched in the gut. "So what you're saying is, not only was there a group of vampires in Forks, but also a bunch of werewolves on the Rez where my best friend lives, and my ex-girlfriend."

My head turned sharply to Charlie at the mention of the ex-girlfriend.

"Yes. You already know about Jacob. As do you, Catherine. You met three of them that first day." Carlisle answered but I almost didn't hear it. I was still focusing on the ex-girlfriend part. I didn't remember Charlie mentioning an ex here in town, although the chances were high since he'd lived here all his life. Matter of fact, the town was probably crawling with them. The jealousy started building, rising up from my gut, until a low growl came out of me, startling me, and everyone else at the table.

Emmett and Rose actually laughed, nearly as stunned as I was. "Catherine, you don't have to worry about her. She was long gone before you even got to town." Rose's eyes met mine across the table, and I relaxed just a bit. Shit, I had just growled because I was jealous of an ex. Would the newborn pms-ing ever stop?

It was all…unbelievable. Even sitting there already a vampire myself, everything that Carlisle had told us, everything that Bella had been through, everything I had _seen_…it was like a dream.

Alice's vision.

I couldn't help it, as I started thinking about these Volturi, these enforcer vampires. Aro, their ruler and what I now understood to be something against the Cullens. I started to get a weird feeling, and Damian's words came back to me.

_You see, Chief Swan, my initial mission was only for the woman._

What the hell did I do?

_It looks like what we feared might be the cause of all this._

What they feared. What did vampires fear?

"Geez, Catherine." Charlie suddenly stood up, pulling my arm and the rest of me into his arms. "Stop thinking, for just a minute, ok. You're stirring like a kicked hornet's nest."

I snuggled further into Charlie, feeling his positive energy. I couldn't lay on him now everything that was in my head, so I concentrated on him, what he was giving me, and his ability to take away the fear. I didn't know how he could be so focused on me in the midst of everything he had just learned about his daughter.

"Charlie, why don't you go on that hunt with Emmett now?" Carlisle asked. "I'd like to talk to Catherine for a minute while you do."

I brought my head from where it had been against Charlie's chest, looking up at his face, trying to be strong. "It's ok. You go with Emmett. I'll be alright with Carlisle, Rose, and Esme for a bit." I said. He needed to run, I could feel it. He needed to hunt even more.

His lips brushed my forehead. "Are you sure?" He whispered unnecessarily.

"Yep. I'll be fine. Right Rose?" I bent my head back to find her. Rose had risen from the table and was walking over to us. She put one hand on me, and the other on Charlie's back, rubbing softly.

"Yep. Catherine and I will go paint our toes or something while you boys are out hunting." She winked at me, suddenly pulling her hands from both of us.

"Holy…_that_ is _wicked_! Even I could feel it." Her eyes went from mine and up to Charlie's. "Nice." She grinned.

"Ok Charlie, let's go then while the women are still happy with us. We stay any longer and I'm sure I'll say something to change that." Emmett got up from the table and was at the patio door, opening it wide. "After you, Chief." His hand swiped out in front of him, leading Charlie out.

Charlie looked down at me once more. "Are you sure? You could come with-"

"Go!" I pushed at his chest. "No way am I breaking up a male bonding session." He smiled at me, this time with a peck on the lips.

"We won't be gone long," he said, as he and Emmett dashed out into the darkness, Emmett thinking about the cougar he was going to introduce Charlie to.

I watched them go, and the minute he was gone, I felt the monster scratching at the walls of his cage. He desperately searched for an opening, and I realized I needed a distraction.

"So Carlisle, you wanted to talk to me?" I asked with an attempt to switch gears from what was stirring again inside me.

"Only if you want to, Catherine. I am a doctor, and if you want me to answer any questions, or help in any way, I can." Carlisle patted the table in front of the empty seat next to him.

_Come sit. They won't be long_. His thought was reinforced by a gentle grin.

I glanced over to Rose, who was standing behind the chair she'd been sitting in next to Esme. "Emmett can find cougar faster than anyone."

I thought about Carlisle's offer, looking at the empty seat, and then turned back to gaze out the window once more. I rubbed my upper arms, trying to get rid of some creepy feeling some sense of…foreboding. The three of them were trying to keep their heads clear of any thoughts, conjuring up irrelevant images, but I could tell they each had hope that I would come join them. I knew I needed to do it. I needed to tell Carlisle what was happening, or as much as I could explain it. Even though Charlie could make it all go away with one touch, I would have to learn how to deal when Charlie wasn't around.

Like now.

So I walked over and took a seat.

"Catherine, if you want Rosalie and I to leave, we can. We can go for a run too, if you would be more comfortable with talking to Carlisle alone." Esme had such a way about her, and as I looked across the table at her, it made me miss my own mother again. Although she looked younger than me, she'd obviously been a wonderful mother to all of the Cullens.

"No, it's alright. You all know what happened to me." I answered her.

"Catherine, you can see how much better you're already doing. It's a very positive sign that you were able to overcome what you were feeling, even if it was with Charlie's help. Charlie has an amazing gift where you're concerned."

"Yes, yes he does. I'm not sure what I would have done, where I would have gone, if he hadn't caught me then. If he hadn't…" If he hadn't wrapped me in his arms and flooded me with his love.

"What you're experiencing, or have been experiencing are all classic victim responses. Even if you were still human, the feeling would be similar. Right now, they're magnified because you're a newborn. But you're doing extremely well. Just sitting here, talking to us, is a huge step. You're not being ruled by your thirst." Carlisle tried to explain.

It was true. While I was thirsty, and could easily go out and hunt, it didn't seem as important at the moment. What was important was the fact that Charlie was away, not to mention the fact that I was starting to get the feeling that there was more to Damian then just some crazed vampire stalker. I had been targeted for a reason, but what that reason was I had absolutely no clue. The nervousness grew, my hands clenching and unclenching in my lap, as I tried to hide them from the view of others.

_She's still afraid. _

_She's doing so much better. _

_Perhaps I should wait until tomorrow for more of this conversation._

"It's alright, Carlisle. It's not you. It's just…" Although only looking at the floor, my eyes darted toward where the doors were.

"Charlie's not here and you're getting uncomfortable. I understand. Why don't we all go into the living room and watch some TV until the others return."

"Sure, but could we possibly make it a comedy?" I said, standing out of my chair as the others did. "Something…"

"Without vampires?" Rose joked, and I tried to grin back at her. But I couldn't stop wondering how Charlie was, if he was ok, and what the Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice would find. Amidst all the turmoil that had been Carlisle's revelations, I'd nearly forgotten that the others had left to find anything they could on Damian.

**CharliePOV**

Emmett and I had run from the house, through the woods, Emmett heading toward the mountains. The whole time I thought about all of the things that Carlisle had said, all of the shit Bella had been through, not to mention leaving Catherine behind. Even for this quick hunt, I couldn't' stand leaving her there. I'd felt her fear right as I was leaving, but I'd also heard her tell me to go. I knew she was trying to overcome what had threatened to eat her alive, but I still felt like an ass. I felt like an ass because my own daughter had been in so much danger and I hadn't seen it. I felt like an ass for leaving Catherine alone for even a second, but I knew I needed to talk to Emmett, and I knew I needed to do it alone.

In general, I just felt like an ass. Not necessarily a new feeling for me, so that was a positive.

I would deal with Bella later, and as soon as Emmett and I had our little chat, I would go back to Catherine.

We came upon two cougars at the base of the mountain, both of us taking them down before they knew what hit them. Emmett had been right. Cougars were a hell of a lot better tasting than elk, informing me of this little tidbit as we ran. He was going to make sure I had my first one tonight.

As I sucked the last drops of the one in my arms, I noticed the taste difference. Both satisfying in their own right, but the cougar had a slight edge. But something in the back of my head told me that neither one was totally right. For an instant, I wondered how human blood would compare.

Shit, what the_ hell_ was I thinking? I couldn't chow on a person's neck.

Could I?

I threw down the dead animal, licking the last drops from my lips to get that thought out of my head. I looked up to see Emmett finishing off the last of his.

"We're lucky to find two together." He said, hoisting the thing over his shoulder. "C'mon, we like to bury the things after we're done."

So I picked mine up and followed him. He dug a hole with his bare hands, dropping his and mine in and covered them back up.

"Here," he said, handing me what was a red bandanna out of his pocket. "You might want to, uh, clean up a bit. Don't worry, you'll get better at as you do it." I took the bandanna and wiped my face and neck where I felt the liquid. "You want some more? We can probably find a few elk, or maybe even get lucky and find a bear. They're my favorite." I couldn't help but chuckle at the kid's grin or his enthusiasm as I shoved the cloth into my back pocket.

"Do you mind if we have that chat first? I'm pretty set for the moment, I think. Next time, though, we'll order the bear." I tried to joke back.

"Sure. Let's you and I go find a spot. I think I know a good one."

We ran back to where we had been, Emmett leading up the side of the mountain and we came to a ledge. He took a spot across from me, lying on his side, picking at what little grass was growing there. I took a seat on an outcropping of rock.

"So, yeah. Bella. That was probably a shock." Emmett said out of the blue.

"Yeah, well Bella and I are going to have a talk later. Right now, though, I just want to…What do you know about what happened earlier today? With me and Catherine?" I figured I'd just get right to it.

"Well, from the looks of it when I got there, things had nearly…gotten out of hand." Emmett said not looking up from the piece of grass he was trying to tie in a knot.

"Yeah." I sighed, looking out over the view from where we were sitting. I didn't know what else to say.

"Look, Chief, we've all been there, especially with our mates. It's obvious that's what you and Catherine are."

"Mates?"

"Yeah, that's what they call vamp couples who belong together. I don't know, it's what they told me. I can't explain it, really, but I know that Rosie's it for me. I mean, she saved me after being chowed on by a bear. Well, saved in as much she took me to Carlisle, but I'd be dead now if she hadn't."

"Yeah, Em, but what I did out there, I know better, I'm a cop for chrissake. I mean… I _was_ a cop." Shit, I had to stop saying that. My days of being a cop were over.

I looked down at my feet, remembering the moment when she turned to me after feeding. "Even with her lookin' at me like that, even with what…what was happening inside me…"

'It doesn't work that way, Chief. When you're a newborn, everything is on overdrive, 100 times more than what you know. You can't control it. And when you're looking at your mate, and she's looking at you, and your magic wand is just…Uh, yeah, well you know what I mean. Look, I can tell you feel guilty, and let me guess, you're kicking yourself because you think you're the same as _him _now, right?"

So the kid had some insight, I had to give him that much, although talking to him about this was a little…weird. He looked like he could be my son.

I glanced at Emmett and then back at the ground. "Yep, that's about it."

"It ain't like that. See, you didn't go after her out of violence. Yeah, it was mind-blowing and uncontrollable and all that. But it's not the same."

"But Emmett, see that's just it. At first, there was the same look in her eyes, and I could tell she wanted it, wanted the same thing as me. But I should've stopped, and I didn't. Not until she froze in my arms, and all the fear and confusion she was feeling, not until it hit me did I even realize…"

"Stop right there. The bottom line is she knows this. She said it herself – baby steps. I think she must've got that from Rosie, because that's what her and I…well, that's what we used to say after she told me what happened to her. With Rose, it wasn't just her fiancé, but his friends to. They all took turns."

"Yeah, I know." I said, jumping up from my seat finally, and the anger flowing through me made me want to punch something, so I drove my fist into the side of the mountain.

"Nice form, Chief." Emmett said as he sat up and moved to the edge of the ledge, his legs dangling, and looking out over the darkness.

I took a step forward and dropped on my ass next to him on the ledge.

"She killed them all." He said in nearly a whisper staring intently at something in the distance. "I swear if she hadn't, I'd have hunted down every male heir of all of them."

I could tell he meant it, in the way his shoulders were set, and his fingers dug into the rock on either side of him.

"At first, after she told me, I didn't want to touch her, afraid that I would hurt her again. I knew she didn't want to, you know, at first. But my Rose, she's a strong gal, and so is Catherine from what I can tell."

I grinned. "Yeah, she's a pistol, and that's even before she was changed. I can't imagine what the next, oh, few decades are going to be like with her. But Em…" I said, glancing over at him, "how long did it take?"

"Couple of months. But Rose didn't find me until decades after. She had time to…figure things out. I'm only telling you that because I don't know how long it will take Catherine, but the good thing is, you have eternity to get there."

"Eternity." I repeated. That was a mighty long time.

"Charlie, she loves you. You love her. If it means anything to you, I'd take bets on it not taking _that_ long." Emmett grinned over at me and then looked back out over the trees.

Eternity with Catherine. It was so big - so _much_ - I couldn't wrap my head around it. "I can't imagine being with anyone but her, human or otherwise." I said out loud into the wind.

"Yeah, I know that feeling, Chief."

We sat there for awhile, looking out, lost in our own thoughts. I could feel my body, even now, wanting her, her skin next to mine, to be inside her and watch her face as she came with me, just as we had that night in my bedroom. The woman who'd let me in, and somehow at the same time, wormed her way into my heart. I'd never thought I'd feel that way again. No, not _again_, because even with Renee it had been different. Hell, we were _both_ young, inexperienced, and didn't know shit from shinola. What I felt for Catherine now was more, and yeah, maybe that's because of the hell we'd been through in just two weeks. But whatever it was, I now had a second chance, a second chance at love, a second chance at _life_, and I was not going to screw her, or it, up. But this crazed vampire shit, this newborn shit, I was going to have to be the strong one. I would have to hold back, letting her take the lead, following her down whatever path she chose, and let her know that wherever she went, however she wanted it, I would be there.

"Listen, Chief, it's gonna get better. What happened out there today with you and her, that was the newborn-ness in both of you. There's nothing you could have done, in fact, you did what most newborns could never do, and that's stopped. Edward wasn't kidding when he said we now know where Bella got her control from. She's a legend for it, you know."

He stopped suddenly and jumped to his feet, looking out across the woods. I was about to ask what he saw, when my mouth started watering, and it wasn't from an animal. I was instantly on my feet.

"Charlie. Hold your breath. Do it NOW!" Emmett commanded. Whatever it was, I could tell he meant business, so I did it. I don't know how I did it, but I did.

He flipped out his phone from his pocket. "Edward, you need to get back to the house now. I'm picking up Nessie's scent, and something tells me she's headed there."

_Nessie_? Holy shit.

"_Where are you?"_ I heard Edward ask.

That wonderful, mouthwatering scent was my granddaughter, my Ness. She was out there somewhere.

"We're in the mountains." He spoke into the phone.

"_Where's Catherine?"_ Edward sounded like he was trying to remain calm but getting jacked up by the second. I heard Bella in the background ask him what's the matter.

Catherine. Holy _fuck_, she was at the house.

"Emmett, you need to get me back there." It was a command, and it was said with more control than I'd ever thought I'd have in me.

"Edward, just go. I'll keep him here." He put his phone in his pocket.

"Sorry Chief, but you need to stay here, and I need to stay with you. If Nessie is going to the house, there's no way you can be near there. Carlisle, Esme, and Rose will handle Catherine."

I started to climb down the rock and Emmett had his arms around my shoulders before I made it even a step.

"Emmett, son, you need to let me go, and you need to let me go _now_. Don't you understand? I'm the only one that can keep her calm. Nessie may be part human, but she's my granddaughter. Catherine, on the other hand, is already messed-up enough. You throw a human in front of her…"

Emmett's grip loosened. "Chief, who's to say you're not going to go after Nessie?"

"_I_ am, dammit! Now let me go so we can get back there!" Emmett's arms held me for a half-second longer, and then let go. I raced down the side of the mountain as he followed, and then broke into the fastest sprint ever back the way we'd come. I didn't want to think about if we didn't make it back to the house in time. I didn't want to think what might happen if Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice were farther away than we were. I didn't want to think _at all_ of what Catherine might do.

Not to mention what _I _would do.

* * *

A/N:

*grins* OKEEDOKEE! So first, let me know in your review if you saw that coming. I mean the first thing. I mean Edward. Be honest. Cuz I thought FOR SURE someone would bring it up in a review at least 10 chapters ago.

Second, Alice's vision. *wicked grin* Theories, posterings, opinions? Hit me with them.

Third, and if there wasn't enough going for our dear sweet Cullens, enter Nessie.

Muwahaha! Thanks SO MUCH for reading...and reviewing if you so choose.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Quickly, because I know you all want at this one. Too my uberPufferfish, Hammerhips, who for whatever reason puts up with my many panic attacks, and for my superbeta here, Jenny Cullen, for being with me throughout this long haul.

Ok, here ya go...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight. *sighs*

* * *

**Chapter 27**

Khachaturian, Symphony No. 2: III. Andante sostenuto

**BellaPOV**

As we left the house, all I could think about was what Carlisle was telling Charlie, and how if Charlie weren't a vampire, he probably would have been apoplectic in about half an hour. I half expected to hear his yell midway into our search.

We'd reached the end of the drive, when Jasper stopped all of us. "I think we should split up in pairs and work our way starting with Bella's suggestion - sleazy motels - heading West and South. He had to be somewhere near that Lodge, but not too near. I don't think he'd be anywhere close to the 110, but we don't know if Aro knows where the wolves are from, so we'll check at least as far as the beginning of their land. Somethin' tells me you're right about the sleazy motels, Bella. Alice and I-" he grabbed Alice's hand, "-will go together."

"Jazz, we'll cover more ground if we all go separately. Bella and I can handle it, and we all have phones." Alice flashed hers in front of Jasper's face to make her point.

"Alice is right. The first one who finds anything texts the others," I added confidently.

Jasper looked from me, back to Alice and her still-waving phone, and then at Edward. "Absolutely not." Jasper whisked the phone out of her hand as if he were ticked, and then offered it back, kissing the side of her head. "Besides, there are no motels, except along the 101 and 110. Edward, you and Bella take the 110 as far as the line, and then head south, covering the forest. See if you can pick up any scent of him. I know we covered it when..." Jasper hesitated, quickly glancing at me with a look that told me he was remembering our race to the cabin, and then back to Edward, "but just in case. Alice and I will head straight down the 101, starting with places on the outskirts of Forks. I don't think he stayed that near to town, but who knows what he was thinking, or if Aro gave him any kind of instructions."

"Keep your phones in your hands," Edward said as Jasper and Alice started to run to the 101. He took my empty hand in his as we started west, but then stopped and turned back. "Oh, and Jasper? Call the second-"

"You know it." Jasper's voice carried, his back to us, as he flashed and waved his phone in the air.

We'd all run these miles so many times, we knew of each and every possible raunchy motel there was between here and the Lodge. Edward and I searched for any scent of _him_, any scent of Catherine, thinking he might have brought her clothes with him back to wherever he was, but with every establishment we explored, we found nothing. No sign. No trace. No scent.

About half an hour later and four motels into our search, both our phones bleeped with a text from Jasper. "I've got him. Down the 101 about 20 miles. The Red Door Inn."

Edward and I needed less than a second to look at our phones, before starting to run. We were just north and east when we crossed the 101 and headed into the trees, trying to remain hidden, when it hit us both.

Catherine.

The faintest remnants were barely discernable and just hanging on from the rain. Anyone heading to the Lodge that night would never have picked it up, partly because you had to be right on top of it, but mostly because we would have been west or north of the road, and Emmett and Rosalie had been in the car.

Edward had already peeked his head from the edge of the trees to look for employees or guests, and when there were none, took my hand as we ran across the small parking lot. Alice stood in a doorway to lead us to the right room. As we raced through the door, Alice closed and locked it behind us, Jasper already busy at a laptop.

"Well, anything?" Edward asked, as Alice made sure the curtains to the dingy little window were overlapping, just in case the light from the screen gave away the fact that we were in the room.

Jasper's fingertips were firing away. "I'm still trying to get past the security set-up."

I looked around the room, glancing quickly away from the bed, not even wanting to think about the last time I'd seen a bed in relation to Catherine and the _thing_ that had been in this room. I quickly scanned, but saw nothing except for the laptop Jasper was trying to crack.

"Did you look around?" I turned to Alice.

"There's nothing, except for the laptop," Alice said, listening near the door for any sound, human or otherwise.

I walked over next to Edward, behind Jasper, and peered over his shoulder. As I did, his finger triumphantly hit the enter key, and I stared at the screen. The email was dated nearly three weeks ago, just days before what I thought was Catherine's arrival.

_Damian,_

_No, it must be outside of Forks. She's the easiest to eliminate, and it won't involve the Cullens. Remember your training. Resist the urge to envision your goal, your duty at any time. Use the techniques we all learned and practiced._

It was there, glowing on the screen. Aro had sent him.

"I think we have our proof," Jasper said as he continued to other emails after the first one, but the rest were ambiguous in comparison. This was by far the only damaging one.

Jasper continued to hack his way through various screens, and I turned to Edward. "She was the target all along."

"Edward. They chatted," Jasper said, just above a mutter.

Edward's eyes flew from mine as he turned to the screen, and I leaned once again over Jasper's shoulder.

_D: I have news. I have located the objective, although there has been a minor complication. A Chief Charlie Swan has entered the arena. Requesting directives on how to deal with this matter._

_A: Charlie _Swan? _You are most positive? You must be, to send complete identification. Swan is Isabella Swan, now Isabella_ Cullen's, _father. It is most unfortunate, since you must avoid the Cullens at all cost. Charlie Swan is unaware of the certain nature of the Cullens, and as long as he remains so, he is free of retribution. Besides, we cannot upset the tenuous peace we have with our brothers and sisters in the West. No, I'm afraid you must keep with only the intended outcome. Charlie Swan is excused from your mission. I remind you to keep vigilant of your special talent and not falter in light of these events. _

_D: I'm at your command. The task will be completed as you wish without delay. _

Jasper turned to look up at Edward. "Charlie wasn't a target."

"No. Aro told him specifically not to touch him. So why would he even..."

"Why would an assassin vampire go after someone he was ordered to stay away from? Why would he even have him there, to witness? Charlie would've known too much," I said.

Edward turned to me once again. "That, I don't know."

"Edward, that email said they've been training." Jasper turned around, the stare between he and Edward signaling an obvious inside conversation.

Edward turned away, walking over to the small table and chairs near the window. He dropped into one of the chairs, his hands going to either side of his head as if he held it in a vice. "Resist the urge to envision your goal," he repeated from the email. "Jasper..." Edward trailed off as he looked up once again at Jasper.

"Use the techniques we all learned and practiced," I repeated, barely above a whisper. "Edward, does this mean..."

"I think it does." Edward's gaze traveled from Jasper to me. His eyes held mine as old fears seemed to creep out from the shadows. I leaned over, my fingers rubbing my forehead. They had been practicing something, and all I could think of is that they had been preparing for quite some time for this.

"Guys, wait. The end of the vision. Charlie and Catherine in Volterra. No Aro, Marcus, or Caius anywhere." Alice left her post near the window, and turned the chair opposite Edward to face all of us, before sitting down, drawing her one knee up into her arm.

Jasper suddenly said, "That has to be it. No Aro, Marcus, or Caius. What if Aro saw this from that damn Oracle Carlisle was telling us about?"

Edward sat up in his chair. "Aro must have foreseen something similar, something to make him think Catherine was the sole reason for the outcome. He sent Damian to kill the one person he could without attracting our attention."

"Except the Oracle must not have said anything about Catherine meeting Charlie," I added.

"Why didn't he just he just kill her...before Charlie?" Jasper asked.

None of us looked at each other, staring off into separate places of the dingy room. No one answered as we all sat, seemingly turning over in our heads that simple question and all that we'd learned in the last few moments. Aro had sent Damian to kill Catherine, but Charlie had not been part of the original plan. Charlie, who by some strange twist of fate had found her on the side of the road, had saved her from certain death. But Charlie and Catherine had known about Damian, or _something_ of him. Tracy had said that they thought he was a stalker.

"Oh!" I felt three sets of eyes turn to me as a theory slowly took shape. "Tracy told me on the phone that Charlie and Catherine thought he was a stalker. What if...what if _Damian_ screwed up? He..." I looked at the floor, not wanting to say the word. "He_ raped _her. He wasn't supposed to do that. He was only supposed to kill her. What if that's _his_ mistake? Whatever Aro saw, Carlisle said the Oracle had been wrong before, about me, about Renesmee. What if Alice's vision is...the _right_ one?" I looked across to Alice, and then at Jasper, who had turned from the computer toward us, and finally at Edward. His face was mysteriously void of any emotion that I could read.

"It means they're going to be wondering where he is, why he's not contacting them," Jasper said flatly. "It might mean that Aro doesn't know about Charlie _or_ Catherine being turned. It could possibly mean-"

"Another visit from the Volturi," Edward finished.

I held in my gasp, looking from Edward to Alice. "Alice, your vision before we left. Aro was furious. Sulpicia said she wanted to go with him. She..."

"Wants to rid the world of _them_ as much as he does." Jasper hand rubbed across his chin.

"They want us annihilated," Edward said to the floor.

The fear that had been slowly building inside me suddenly burst through its gates. I stood up and went to Edward's lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, as his hands on my back pulled me even closer. The last time the Volturi had visited, we had been...lucky. The last time they came, we had the element of surprise, not to mention the hope that logic and reason coupled with the Law would persuade Aro. If they were coming again, it wouldn't be for conversation. Aside from my family, aside from Charlie and Catherine, the only thing I could think of now was Renesmee.

"Not again," I whispered into his shirt.

Jasper sudden, "Alice?" made me turn from where my head was buried in Edward's shoulder, to see Jasper kneeling in front of Alice. "Alice!"

My shield went around Edward just long enough to see it: Alice, Jasper, Catherine, and Charlie now standing on the dais where only Catherine and Charlie had once stood.

"Oh my God," Alice whispered, as her eyes flew to Edward's and mine. "It was us." She looked at Jasper, her hand clutching his on top of her knee. "It was you and me with Catherine and Charlie. There." Jasper pulled her hand just as Alice flung herself into his arms.

Jasper turned back to Edward and me, and Edward merely nodded in affirmation. Jasper tried to calm Alice, one hand caressing her back, his other clutching her neck. He was trying to help us all, sending Edward and me what he could.

"Well, there's one good thing about that," Jasper said with a half-grin, as her face drew back and her eyes met his. "We're alive." He tried to soothe her by kissing her nose, but his eyes went to Edward's.

Edward suddenly stiffened, as Jasper's thoughts were clearly evident in Edward's mind. Because I still had my shield over him, I heard them, too.

_I won't let anything happen to the rest of you._

Edward's phone started to vibrate in his pocket, and his hand flew back and took it out.

_"Edward, you need to get back to the house now. I'm picking up Nessie's scent, and something tells me she's headed there."_ Emmett's voice erased anymore attention to Alice's vision, as Jasper picked her up and they were both on their feet before Edward said a word.

"Where are you?" Edward asked.

_"We're in the mountains,"_ we all heard Emmett say.

"Where's Catherine?" Edward shot up, bringing me with him and setting me on my feet.

"What's the matter?" I heard myself ask, but it was a reaction, as my mind started to process. Emmett had smelled Renesmee, and he thought she was going to the house. Before we had left, Emmett had joked about taking Charlie out to hunt for cougar.

My hands flew to my mouth. Catherine must be at the house. It was the only reason Emmett would...

_"Emmett, you need to get me back there."_ That was Charlie's voice. Charlie was with Emmett.

_"Edward, just go. I'll keep him here."_

Edward didn't even reply, shoving his phone in his pocket as Jasper gathered up the laptop, before we flew out the door. We ran just like we had that night, but this time, it was for Renesmee, my daughter, my _baby girl_. I remembered the discussion with Jacob, how I'd wanted her to know about Catherine and Charlie, but not like _this_. Not when we weren't there to protect her.

But then my fear mixed with anger. _How did she get past Jake?_

**CathPOV**

Rose had turned on the Comedy Channel, some comedian doing stand-up, who actually made me laugh out loud a few times. With everything that had happened, everything that I'd learned in the past few hours, I was amazed I even remembered how. I started thinking about that world, the one on TV, the _old_ world, and just how in the hell I was ever going to be a part of it, let alone be a part of this new one.

Then Bella, Edward, Alice, and Jasper - they were out there, looking for clues to Damian, to anything that would tell us why and whether or not these vampire rulers, these _Volturi _were involved.

I wanted Charlie to come back, and then I didn't. I hated the feeling of him being gone, and yet I hated the idea of being so...clingy. My head was once again a shitstorm, with thoughts of Charlie, of the Volturi, of sitting on the couch trying to be _normal_. I had to get up, I had to...do something. I had to _move_.

"I'm just going to go out on the patio. Is that okay?" I sat up, glancing first at Carlisle in the chair, and then to Rose and Esme beside me.

Rose's hand padded the space on the couch next to me. "I can come with if-"

"No, I'm fine. Really. I'll just be right outside." Carlisle gave me a brief look of hesitation, which turned into nod of understanding. I got up and walked over to the doors, carefully sliding one to the side. I felt all eyes on me, so I left the door open as I walked outside. It was damp, but not raining, with a slight breeze, which suddenly made me realized it hadn't rained in twenty-four hours. I don't know why I thought about it really. Where were Charlie and Emmett? It felt like they had been gone forever. I rubbed my upper arms more out of habit than chill, and out of the corner of my eye, saw Carlisle get up from his chair. It was that same feeling that I had before, like I was waiting for something, or I was missing something.

_Charlie, where the hell are you? _

I looked out as far as I could see, scanning the forest, the trees, but all I could pick up was the scent of him from when he had left.

But then there was something else.

It was...it was...I _knew_ that smell. I went to take a step forward, trying to find its location...

"Catherine, no!"

Arms went around me, ones I recognized as Carlisle's, but I was too lost in the tantalizing smell to care. It was coming closer and closer. I inhaled deeply, savoring the flavor across my tongue, liquid pooling in my mouth. I pulled Carlisle forward with me a half-a-step, until my feet left the ground.

Arms around me, lifting me...

That sound erupted from me that I had only heard once before. My head started to swim with images: strangers' arms and hands holding me, _his _face, my wrists bound, all evoking an explosion of emotions, including entrapment, danger, fear. They seeped in from the outer edges to join with the other, more overwhelming need.

To taste.

"Catherine!" Someone was in front of me, and then another, their faces a blur, as more hands joined the ones already around me. The only thing that held my attention, though, the only thing I could focus on, the only thing I _wanted_ stood just behind them. I stretched my neck to find it, to see it. My arms and legs struggled to break free.

"Nessie! You have to go _now_!" Carlisle yelled.

The source of that delicious scent. I heard the name Nessie, as my legs and feet kept kicking.

Amidst the need and the panic from the arms around me, recognition filtered in. The name Nessie started to repeat in my head. I _knew_ that name. How? It didn't matter, because all I wanted was to drink from that...that...no, it wasn't human.

It was like me.

No, it wasn't.

Nessie.

_Nessie._

The name wisped through my head on the wings of different voices. Off in the distance, someone yelled Chief.

_Chief. _

Then another. more disgusting, smell registered. That same one from the woods just a few days ago. Wolves.

Another voice in my head broke through, growing louder and louder, as if it were coming closer. _"Catherine, stop! It's Edward. _Hear_ me. Please."_

"Renesmee!" A familiar voice, shouting...

_Renesmee. _That name.

_Catherine, stop. Please. This is my daughter. If you can hear me, try to relax. Listen to my voice. _Edward. That was Edward, telling me to...

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen! What were you thinking?"

"But Dad! I'm sorry! Catherine! I'm sorry!"

I continued to fight, my head straining to see around the wall in front of me.

_Renesmee. Edward. Daughter._

Suddenly, the anger started to subside, pushed back by a brief feeling of serenity, until each emotion fought each other spinning, churning into a confused whirl. Somewhere amidst it all, a voice of reason pierced through the confusion.

_Renesmee is Edward's daughter, _the voice spoke forcefully.

My eyes finally focused enough, and caught a glimpse between the walls that had been in front of me. She was standing fifty feet from me. All I wanted to do was drink from her.

_Edward and Bella's daughter, _the voice said even louder.

_Renesmee._ A photo flashed in my mind-a photo of Bella, Edward, and Renesmee-and it morphed to what was now all of them around her. She was...beautiful, and grown-up, and...

My legs kicked at the walls in front of me that were impeding my view. I just wanted to see her.

I wanted to bite her. No!

_Charlie's granddaughter!_ the voice shouted.

"Renesmee, run!" I screamed.

**CharliePOV**

The closer Emmett and I got to the house, the more I felt something welling up on my tongue, and something told me it wasn't spit. Venom. Fuck, the smell of it, of _her_, it was..._mouthwatering_. Between that smell, and the thought of what Catherine might do if she was smelling the same thing...

"Emmett?" I glanced over my shoulder. Emmett was about twenty feet behind me, so I slowed down a bit.

"Yeah, Chief?" He caught up, and we ran side by side.

"You have to make sure I don't do anything stupid. You have to make sure..." I said, while continuing to run.

"I got your back, don't worry. When we get up there, though, I'm gonna grab onto you."

"Okay." I thought about what he just said. Would he be enough? "Don't let me go, okay, champ?"

"Not a problem, sir," he said as I sped ahead again.

We'd run about three quarters of the way back when I heard it. Her. _Them_. Catherine's growl, Rose, Carlisle, Esme...

Nessie.

I ran faster. I could just make out Catherine in Carlisle's arms, Rose and Esme in front of her, and that's when Nessie's scent hit me like a ton of bricks. I reached the edge of the yard, slowing a bit almost out of shock value, and Emmett's arms were around my shoulders, his hands locked, lifting my feet off the ground.

"Chief!" I heard him yell.

Just as he did, Jasper came running into the center of the yard, concentrating hard, his hands spread out at his sides. I could feel whatever he was trying to do, but Catherine still growled and screeched and flung her legs to try and break away from the three who had her.

I looked to my right, just in time to see Edward grab Nessie, Bella and Alice standing beside her.

And then the wolves.

Fuck, I'd forgotten how huge they were, and they..._smelled_ like shit.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen! What were you thinking?" Edward yelled from behind her.

"But Dad! I'm sorry! Catherine! I'm sorry!" Nessie screamed and continued saying I'm sorry, fighting Edward's hold on her.

"Jake, go change back so you can get her the hell _out_ of here!" Bella yelled, turning around to look at Nessie and then Edward.

All of sudden, Catherine kicked Rose and Esme away, each flying six feet, landing on their asses.

"Emmett, get me over there. Now!" I yelled above the fray, and I felt myself lifted. I still wanted to go to Nessie, I still wanted...

My God, I wanted to bite her.

_No_! I closed my eyes, shaking my head to get the thought out.

"Renesmee, run!" Catherine's scream broke through, enough for me to see her eyes squeeze shut, her head go back onto Carlisle's shoulder.

As Emmett ran with me past Jasper, I felt his vibe even more and noticed that Catherine has stopped thrashing in Carlisle's arms. Even as Emmett put me down in front of her, I tried to remember who I was, to let Jasper do his thing, to focus on Catherine, and not the smell of Nessie standing fifty feet behind me.

"Emmett, let me go, but stay close." His arms relaxed, now just holding my shoulders. I put my hands on the sides of Catherine's face, forcing her to look at me.

"Catherine? It's me. I'm gonna get you out of here." Her eyes met mine, now wide with fear and completely black. "Carlisle, give her to me." Carlisle pushed forward, removing his arms as mine came around. Carlisle held her waist, I held her shoulders, Emmett held me, and I pushed whatever calming thought, vibe, whatever it was I could, even though I was struggling to even focus myself. She fought again, her hands pushing at my chest.

"Emmett, get her other side and help me get her out of here," I commanded.

He hesitated only a millisecond and ran around. We both grabbed under her knees and ran, Rose following us both.

It was the scream that nearly broke me.

"Charlie, she's reacting to being restrained. Just keep running," Rose said from behind me.

Fuck, was she thinking I was going to hurt her? I knew I wasn't, and somewhere deep down inside her, I hoped she knew it. I couldn't tell; the feelings coming off her were a combination of regret, confusion, but most of all, fear.

Emmett and I ran with her for at least a mile, with Rose following, when suddenly, I could feel her change in my arms. She wasn't fighting anymore, her head in my shirt. I didn't know if it was me or the distance that was making her relax. If it was me, I really wasn't sure how I could be as terrified as I had been. I chanced a glance down and realized she was sniffing me.

"Charlie?" she suddenly said, as Emmett and I stopped. I gave him a look that said back off, and he let go of her, but still stood where he was.

"Cath?"

She flung her arms around my neck. "I'm...I'm okay," she said into my neck.

I glanced at Emmett and Rose. "Let me take it from here."

"But Chief, she's..."

"Emmett." I looked at him, and felt Catherine's grip get tighter. Rose grabbed Emmett's arm, pulling him back.

"C'mon, Em. Chief, are you sure?" Rose glanced at Catherine and then back at me. Catherine's energy had backed down considerably, although she was still buzzing, and damn if it weren't something else I was feeling from her.

"Yeah, I got this. She's okay." Even though I wasn't quite sure. "But thanks."

"All right." Rose grabbed Emmett's arm. "If you're not back in an hour, we'll come back." She pulled, and they began to run.

I held Catherine in my arms for a few more minutes, feeling her change again, feeling something unlike what she had been sending out just moments before. I put her on her feet so I could see her face, holding her to me with my arm around her waist. Her hands came up on my chest, her eyes meeting mine.

They were still black. Not only that, but her buzzing had just kicked up a notch again.

"Cath?"

She inched closer, her nose running along my neck as she sniffed, her tongue along the underside of my chin, licking up and over until she reached my lips. I could feel the hum inside her, like a V8 engine. I didn't know what it was, but it was making me just as revved as she was. Her tongue licked across my bottom lip, until her mouth came at mine hard, her hands pushing me back onto the ground. I'd never realized how strong she was, how strong she could be. Whatever she was thinking, whatever her body was sending off, it felt like hot surges going through me and straight to Charlie Jr. I couldn't think, I just reacted, our mouths finding each other, her tongue demanding mine. Somewhere inside, I knew I should stop, but her hands gripped my shoulders, and she started to grind herself against me.

She left my mouth and again licked and sucked at my neck, moving down as I felt her hands struggling with my shirt, until it ripped in two. She ran her tongue down the middle of my chest, her lips nipping at my stomach, and then back up, sucking on my nipple. Fuck, I didn't want her to stop. I was so lost in the feel of her, of what she was doing, and in what I wanted to do to her.

She suddenly sat up, lifting her shirt off to reveal a pink lace bra, similar to the one that she'd been in that first time, and then it was gone, too. My eyes floated over her stomach, seeing the bite mark, her ribs as she raised her arms, up to her breasts, and the other bite mark.

"Charlie, touch me. Please, just touch me," she begged in a whisper.

I wanted to touch her, I wanted to take her here again, but I started seeing flashes of her underneath me in the woods and then flashes of her on the bed in the cabin with _him. _ No, I'd said I was going to be the strong one, to take whatever path she led me down.

_She's half-naked on top of me, asking me to touch her._

"Charlie, _please_," she choked out, and the humming inside her grew stronger.

I could feel how badly she wanted me to, so I slowly brought my hand up from where it had been on her thigh, and ran my fingertips over her stomach, over the scar, testing the waters, trying to be everything I wanted to be, and nothing I wanted to be. Her hand snatched mine and brought it to her breast, holding it there as her eyes shut and her head tilted back. Holy shit, it was like a raging hurricane inside her. I could feel part of her fighting against what she was doing, and another simply...wanting it. I cupped her breast as her hand slid down my arm, my fingerstips feeling her skin where his teeth had marked her, and his face flashed as he had looked at me that last time, her blood dripping from his mouth before he tore into her thigh.

"Catherine, I..."

Her head came forward again, as she slowly brought her body down, her arms on either side of my head. She lowered herself to me, my mouth finding her breast, licking, sucking, and her moan shot right through me. She slid her body down until her mouth found mine, her kiss insistent and her tongue even more so. I couldn't hold on... my tongue answered hers, and I couldn't believe how I'd missed her, the way she felt against me. My hands went around to her back, sliding over her softness, finding their way into her jeans, my fingers pressing into the bare skin of her ass, as she rubbed herself against me. I pressed her closer, my hands trying to find room to feel her, to maneuver, and something popped and her jeans suddenly were looser.

I was lost, she was lost. All I could do is feel and touch and kiss, and the way she moved over me. Fuck _me_, it just felt so good and right, I couldn't help but want her anymore. I couldn't help that I wanted to taste every inch of her, to make her moan again, to be inside her.

I rolled her over, kissing down her neck, over her collarbone, down to the other breast I had yet to taste. My tongue swirled over her nipple, until my lips were around it, sucking, tasting; she was even sweeter than she had been. My fingers roamed down over her stomach, finding their way underneath the edge of her underwear. I just wanted to feel her, to make her...

She wasn't moving.

My head shot up, and I searched her face. No... "Catherine?"

"Char..." Her eyes were closed tight, her lips now pressed in a thin line. Her hands came up from the ground and clenched tightly around my upper arms.

"I'm here, baby. Open your eyes. Look at me." Christ, I'd done it again. She was fighting it; I could feel it inside her, the blackness and the pain.

I brought my hand to the side of her face and pushed with everything I had to let her feel me again, to feel how I felt about her, to give her the strength. I needed her to come back. I needed her to see me and not _him_.

"I love you, Catherine. Open your eyes."

After a few blinks, she opened them, and the look of pain-not to mention the humiliation now flowing through her-was almost too much for me to handle.

"Charlie...I..." She closed her eyes again.

I rolled to the side, bringing her with me, holding her head against my chest. Her hand went around my waist, pulling me to her.

"What did I...what the hell happened?" she asked, and another wave of embarrassment from her hit me.

"I don't know. You...you froze again. I shouldn't have pushed you." _Dammit, Swan_, I scolded in my own head.

"No, Charlie. It wasn't that." She shook her head against my chest. "I wanted it. For crying out loud, I was on top of you. I don't...I don't know when it...changed. One minute, all I wanted was for you to touch me, I wanted you to...and then...then he was there. His face, his hands..." She pressed closer into me, her fingers clutching at my back and what was left of my shirt.

I rolled onto my back, bringing her with me, and she wound her leg around mine. It was like she couldn't get close enough. I ran my hand over her skin, trying to calm the confusion she was feeling.

"Talk to me, Catherine. Tell me what I did, or tell me what I did wrong, or..."

"It wasn't..." She stopped, rubbing her cheek against my chest, her hand sliding along me, her touch once again sending her confusion through me. "It wasn't you. It was as if I lost myself in it. I could feel me, you, and...something else." Her head popped up from my chest, her eyes squinting and then closed as she shook it slightly. "You didn't do anything. I..." She looked down at my lips and then at my neck, her hand reaching up, her fingers running over my chin. "You had blood on you."

She rolled to her side, her eyes to my chest as if she was trying to remember, her fingertips ran down it, touching, and then suddenly went to her mouth, pulling on her bottom lip. I ran my hand over her upper arm, just to keep as much contact as I could.

"It was Nessie. She smelled so...but I heard...I remembered who she was, but then you and Emmett holding me, it reminded me of them. The Cullens. When I first woke up. When they all...held me down."

"Held you down?"

She nodded, as if remembering. "When they ran me from the house that first time to feed. I...It reminds of when he..." She didn't even need to say it, as I flashed back to the cabin, his hand holding her wrists.

"When _he_ held...me down. My hands." She buried her face into my chest, her hand grasping at my shoulder. I could feel her terror brewing, the realization, the memory.

"Oh, Cath..." I pulled her even closer with my hand at her back, trying to will away my own guilt, which I knew she'd pick up on, and exchange it for something different, something comforting, anything better than where she was.

"When will it stop, Charlie?" she whispered into my skin, her breath almost what I would've imagined her tears to feel like.

I nudged her with my arm, rolling her to her side to see her face, my fingers underneath her chin to bring her eyes to me.

"I don't know, but we've got forever to work on it." I stared in her eyes, trying to hide my nearly overwhelming need to kiss her, but a glance at her lips, and back in her eyes and I knew she knew it. I had to keep it in check, whatever it was, because damn if it I was going to go there again. But with the slight tilt of her head up, she raised her lips to mine, as if she was shy or unsure.

_Slowly, Swan! _

As softly as I could, my control amazing even me, I pressed my lips to hers, holding them there, concentrating everything I had and sending her what I wanted to do for her, what I felt for her, what I wanted her to feel. I was hoping it felt something like...like love.

She drew her head back suddenly. "I smelled it on you. The blood. I still do." Her index finger traced my lips and down my chin as she said it, as her eyes followed it.

"Emmett and I had just fed. Found some cougar right before he got a whiff of Nessie." She stiffened in my arms as I said Nessie's name, and I drew her closer to me. It wasn't my guilt now, but hers I could feel.

"Shit," she whispered. "I didn't..." Her head popped back up to look at me. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I couldn't stop...I just wanted to..."

"Shhhh," I said, pulling her back to me, my lips in her hair. "I know."

"How did you do it, Charlie? How did you not...go after her?"

_Why _didn't_ I?_ The question tumbled around in my head for what felt like a good ten minutes. That control thing? Maybe. The fact that I was scared out of my mind for Catherine? Possibly.

"I really couldn't tell ya." I ran my hand across the skin of her back. "I just..._knew_. When Emmett said it was her in the woods, and then I thought about you being at the house, all I wanted to do was get back to you. I knew I was the only one who could reach you. To keep you from freaking out. At least enough to get you away from her."

I really didn't know how I'd done it. Running through the woods, I'd felt confused, pulled, almost out of control by just the scent of Ness. Was it Catherine's distraction? Was it the fact Nessie was already protected by Bella, Edward, Alice, Jake, and the other two wolves? Or that I thought Catherine was about to lose it, and I was the only one who could prevent it? But like a bolt of lightening, it suddenly clicked. Something so basic, it was one of those duh moments that just hits you, and I said it out loud. "Maybe it's because she's my granddaughter. You know, a part of me."

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed right and completely logical. I couldn't hurt my own granddaughter, any more than I could hurt Bella, or this woman, lying here next to me.

Catherine lifted her head from me again, her hand running over my skin, until she placed it on my cheek. I could see it in her eyes before she even said it.

"I'm so sorry, Charlie. Please forgive me." Her eyes left mine, her hand floating down my neck to rest on my shoulder. I could feel the remorse, the guilt once again welling up. I ran my hand down to the small of her back, pressing her closer still, even though I knew Charlie Jr. would react, impatient little bastard that he was. I could not, _would_ not let her blame herself.

"There's nothing to forgive, baby." I ran my lips through her hair, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "From what I understand, you couldn't help it. But you told her to run. You knew who she was." I tried to convince her, to comfort her.

"I...I did, didn't I?" Her head bounded up again, her eyes wide with shock. "Charlie, something kept telling me she was Edward's, Edward's and Bella's. But then...she's your granddaughter, too. A part of you." Her eyes left mine and stared out over me into the trees. "But if I'm related to Edward..." She stopped again, her head slowly turning to mine. Holy shit, I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"You're...related to her, too." I stared back at her, cracking a smile.

"Could that be why? Could that be why I didn't...go after her?" I swear the vibe she was giving was almost as if she were panting, but I knew she wasn't taking a breath.

"Sounds like a reason to me," I half-laughed as she cuddled closer.

"I'm not sure I want to...test that theory out anytime soon, though," she muttered, her face falling.

"Yeah, well, me neither, actually. We just have to keep you, me, and Nessie apart for awhile, that's all. I don't know why she came here tonight. I don't know how she got past Jake." The size and look of Jake alone should have kept her at the Rez. "Although from what I could tell, Jake was getting her out of there as I was getting you. Edward and Bella will handle her. You and I, though-" I ran my finger down to her chin to pull her face up, "-I think we need to...try and figure things out."

I watched as her eyes danced away from mine, to my hair and down over my face. I couldn't get over how beautiful she looked, even in almost complete darkness. I could see every curve of her face, the smoothness of her skin, and the flecks of color in her eyes. Her stormy blues had swept me away, but there was something about her new ones. The new color, the depth, or something that just drew me in. I needed to kiss her again, to feel her lips. I lowered my head slowly, watching her eyes for any sign, feeling that humming coming from her again. Her mouth came up to meet mine, her tongue playing on my bottom lip, as she laid back, bringing me with her. I brought my hand around, my fingertips playing over her stomach. I felt it, the scar, and at the same moment, she stiffened.

I left her lips as if I'd been stung. "Catherine!" My hand flew to her cheek, her eyes tightly shut.

"Char...lie." The struggle for her to say my name had me gathering her up, placing her in my lap, holding her so close it was like she was inside me.

She clutched at my neck, digging her face into the other side of it again. "Charlie, I think..."

"I think we need to get away," I said into her hair.

Her arm went around my shoulder, her hand clinging to the back of my neck, but her head shook against me. "Go away? Where? Charlie, we can't go anywhere." She drew her head back to rest on my upper arm and look at me. "We don't know what the others found. We don't know what's going on. We don't know anything about...about what we are..."

I placed my finger on her lips. "Shush, woman. I didn't mean go far." I ran my knuckles over her cheek, my fingers into her hair, pushing the curls away that tried to keep her face from me. I could stare at her all eternity and never get enough, but I couldn't keep sending her to that place, wherever she went, when I tried to touch her, to show her. The near catastrophe in the woods after the elk flashed in front of me. She was bound to have triggers, and the Cullens had warned of the first one, the touching, but whatever I did seemed to counteract it. Then just now, the intensity of the near miss with Nessie, the blood that she had smelled on me had taken her there. She had wanted me. She'd been _on top_ of me, for pete's sake.

On top.

_She'd been on top of me._

"Holy..." My eyes traveled her once more. "I ...I think..." I wanted to tell her, but I held back. She needed to figure it out, to find her own way back to me, so I kept the realization to myself. "I just think we need to go somewhere, just the two of us. Far enough away from the others so you can have some peace, but close enough, just in case." I covered quickly and rather effectively, proud of myself.

"But Charlie, what about Alice's visions and Damian and what they might be..."

I kissed her once again to stop the million and one questions I could just feel rushing through her, but she kept going, even with my lips against hers.

"At least the Cullens know about vampires."

I grinned and pulled her to me, running my hand over her back. "We'll stick around here somewhere. Maybe we can just pitch a tent somewhere out on a mountain ledge or something. Emmett and I..."

She suddenly squirmed in my arms, pressing herself away from me, her eyes running down my body to the front of my jeans.

"Don't even think about it. Charlie Jr.'s just calming down." I almost laughed out loud.

Her eyes flew back to mine. "How'd you know what I was-"

"Pitch a tent?"

She shyly smiled back at me and came back into my arms.

"We're gonna figure this out, you and me." I lifted her chin again and found her eyes, that beautiful warm golden that was really beginning to grow on me. "Emmett said we have eternity."

Suddenly, her eyes were doing that searching thing again, until her lips pecked mine, that shit-grin of hers forming as her head went back in the crook of my arm. "Yeah, but you might explode before then."

I laughed out loud then. The woman had a point. "I'm sure taking care of business as a vamp is the same as it is as a human." She started to giggle, and I laughed even more.

"C'mon. I think you and I should hunt before going back." I grabbed her shirt and bra from beside me. "It's a good thing you didn't rip Jasper's prized Zeppelin shirt to shreds like you did mine," I teased, reaching around for half of mine as she snatched hers from me.

She suddenly stood up, putting her arms into her bra, and walking a few steps away, her back to me. It was fast, purposeful, and I quickly realized why. I shot up off the ground, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Hey, it's okay." I nuzzled against the side of her neck that didn't have the scar.

She took a deep breath, her eyes roaming down to where my hands clasped around her stomach. Her fingers slowly went over my arm, and I watched as she placed them over the bite mark on her stomach. "Doesn't it...doesn't it bother you to see them?" Her hand touched the one on the top of her breast, covering it.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean...shit." I kissed the top of her shoulder, trying to figure out what the fuck to say. "It bothers me that you have them because of how you _got_ them. But they don't make you any less beautiful to me. If that's what you're asking." Okay, I think that was what I meant.

Her head dropped back on my shoulder, her other hand coming round to wind its way in my hair. "Okay. I think I believe you."

Her head suddenly whipped from my shoulder, staring back toward the house and concentrating. "Nessie's gone, and Edward said it's okay. They're waiting for us." Her mouth opened into an "o." "They found...something."

"Tell him we're hunting, and then we'll be back."

She threw her shirt over her head, as I looked down at mine. It was the first time I really recognized that the clothes I was wearing weren't my own. I didn't know whose they were, but I hoped _whoever _it was, he _wasn't_ attached to the t-shirt _I _had on.

As she straightened her shirt, I stopped to look at her once more, grabbing her hand and pulling her back into me. I ran my fingers through her hair on the side of her head as I wrapped my other arm around her waist. "Are you okay?" I didn't really need to ask. I could feel the difference inside of her, and she knew it.

"Yeah."

I lowered my head, my mouth finding hers, our tongues meeting, slowly gliding over each other, until I cupped he cheek with my hand. "We're gonna figure this out, okay? You, me, everything. I'm not going anywhere, unless you're comin' with me. Got it?"

"Yes, Chief." She tried to nod, her face still in my hand.

"Good," I said, kissing her forehead. "Then let's go find something to eat, and then we'll go back to find out what all this is about."

I grabbed her hand, and we started to run. I knew she was okay. For now. What I didn't know was what the others had found, and what Catherine had seen from Edward.

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A/N:

I don't know about you, but I think Nessie needs a timeout. ;)

Kids.

Thanks for reading, and reviewing if you so choose.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N:** First off, pleeeeease, please forgive me. I know you've all waiting interminably long for this chapter, and thank you so much for doing so. RL, business travel, and NASTY cases of the flu and of my mojo heading for and climbing Mount Everest were a combination of epic proportion. I've said to some of you in reviews and PMS, I WILL finish this fic. Do NOT despair. It's just going to take me longer than I thought. I hope you can stick with me, and I can't tell you how much it means that you have this far. Just know I will write and post new chapters as soon as I feel they are to my standards, and all of yours.

I do also apologize for not answering all your reviews. Some of you know I try to answer all of them, but during this time, I just felt you'd want the chapter more than you'd want a reply from me. ;) I hope I chose right. I will try to answer them in the future. Pinky swear.

So beaucoup thanks, once again, to my Pufferfishbeta, HammerHips, for reading this thing, and working her magic, even in the midst of an entire family with strep, and then her own bout of bronchitis. That, folks, is not only the bestest of betas, but the most amazing friend. I will endeavor to repay, in kind, but never nearly enough.

To Jenny Cullen, my beta on Twi'd, hugs and wet smoochies for her patience.

Finally, for all of you, who reviewed or PM'd with your concern, for loving this fic, and for your patience - thank you.

Hope you enjoy...

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**Chapter 28**

Khachaturian, Violin Concerto: II. Andante sostenuto

**BellaPOV**

"Did you-" I began to ask.

"Yes. They're going to feed."

Edward's voice was strained as he walked past me and went and stood at the far end of the patio. I didn't know where to focus my worry: Charlie and Catherine, Renesmee, or Edward. I snuck a glance to catch him staring out across the yard with his back to me, over the very place where...

Alice and Jasper had left, the others scattering to parts far from the house once they did. Whether it was to leave Edward and I alone, or to overcome their own anxiety, I didn't know, but I imagined it was a little of both. Even Emmett and Rosalie, who had raced with Charlie to get Catherine away, had returned just in time to see the melee, and had been the first ones to escape its aftermath.

I looked at Edward again as he happened to lift his head and glance west, his torment taking him to Quileute land, and to where his precious daughter had been taken nearly kicking and screaming from him. From me. From all of us. To be kept safe by last person he wanted to entrust her with. It was as if this departure - her departure in duress and by force - had made him see what I had already known. Even though anyone could see the many facets of Edward that she carried in her genes, along with my brown eyes she seemed to have inherited my stubbornness, but it had never been this bad. It had never been nearly…deadly.

Although my back was to him now, I didn't need to throw my shield over Edward, nor sneak a glance at him to know what was in his head. I knew he was running over and over in his mind what he had said and what _she_ had said. The only reason for Renesmee's behavior that I could consider was the stress of the last few days, or the last few weeks. As much as she had ever wanted to be with Jacob, she had never been away from any of us for this long. I secretly hoped that Edward _could _hear her, or was at least trying, if only to catch something that would change what had just happened…

~~o~~o~~o~~o~~

"Dad! You can let me go. They're gone."

"Edward, I'll take-"

"Oh, you certainly will NOT _take_ anything, Jacob." Edward's arms loosened, as he pushed her behind him, nose to nose with the now phased-back Jacob. "Just where the hell were_ you_?"

Jacob's head peered around Edward's, his eyes squinting slightly as they sought out Renesmee's, his expression almost as if even _he_ was angry with her, and then back to Edward, his shoulders straightening as he met his gaze. "She was with Emily and some of the girls. I had no clue she was going to pull something like this. Why didn't _you_ know, Mr. Mindreader?"

"Jacob." I tried to intervene.

Edward skirted the issue, his finger pointing accusingly at Jacob. "You're supposed to be protecting her right now. What happened to 'the world revolves around her' or 'she's your gravity.'" Jacob's surprised expression turned to me as Edward repeated the words I had once used to describe to him what Jake had so long ago tried to explain to me.

"Dad, l-lay off Jake-" Renesmee sputtered from behind Edward.

Edward spun around to her. "_Don't_…say another word, Renesmee." Renesmee's arms were crossed, her gaze directed at the ground with her father towering over her. "You are…" Edward hesitated, his eyes roaming over the ground to the side and then up and beyond her, his hand once again twisting through his hair, "You are very lucky you weren't hurt or…or killed tonight. Do you understand that? Do you even _realize_ what-"

"Edward, please." Once again, I tried to play mediator, as I stepped up next to both of them, putting my hand on Edward's shoulder, and around Renesmee's waist, but she pulled from me so quick, I almost didn't have time to register the feel of the soft cotton of her shirt on my fingertips.

Renesmee dropped her arms to her side, balling up her fists, her anger now directed at both Edward and me. "I came because…because I'm _part_ of this family. I need to know, to see, to understand." She glanced over to Carlisle and Esme and then to Jasper and Alice. I watched her and them, their reaction to her beckoning expression, but only Esme showed a sign of tenderness. When she reached Rosalie and Emmett, it was Emmett's glare that registered on her, her shock fleeting, giving way to something that looked like determination.

"You can't just keep me hidden away, under lock and key…or wolf." This time, she glanced at Jacob. "It's bad enough I'm a…freak to everyone else, but…"

"Ness." Jake walked over to her, but as soon as his hands were just shy of touching her, she pulled away.

"No, Jake. You…you are just as bad as _them_. Wanting to keep me _safe_." With the word safe, she made little air-quotes with her fingers, and I regretted ever letting her watch TV. The déjà vu quality of the whole scene crept up from my stomach and over me. I half expected goose bumps on my arms and took a quick glance just to be sure.

"Jacob, Seth, Paul take her back to the Rez now. Before I lose what little patience I have left." Edward said to them, without taking his eyes of Renesmee.

With that, she turned back to Edward and took a step toward him. "Dad, I'm not a _child _anymore." She said through pursed lips, the look in her eyes now exactly as it had been in the cottage just a week ago. "Besides, I believe you used up all of _your _patience on Mom, and…and _Jake_."

"Nessie! Renesmee!" Jake and I yelled in unison.

For a split second, Edward looked as if he had been punched, but his unnecessary deep inhale and exhale brought a calm façade. "You're right about my patience being gone, _Renesmee_. Jacob, I will ask you now to please _escort _my daughter away, but know that we're not finished with this conversation. If this is your idea of protecting her, I might need to consider other options." I gave Edward credit for holding back whatever was on his tongue, but even if I could, I would never forget the look on Edward's face as he stared back at her.

"Reconsider what, Dad? Reconsider the fact that I love him, and he loves me? That in a month, you won't be able to control my every move? That you won't be able to hear my every _thought_?"

"Renesmee!" Edward yelled, which caused the other wolves to suddenly come stand closer to both Jacob and Renesmee. As they did, Edward's expression changed, the pain in his face evident, if only to me.

"Edward, stop. Please!" I turned to him, running my hand against his chest.

"Ok everyone. Let's just take a step back." Jasper said from somewhere behind me, his attempts to relax everyone at full force.

But before I could throw my shield around him, Edward pulled away and started walking toward the house. I caught Carlisle's eyes as he followed him too.

"Jake, please take her back to the Rez before Charlie and Catherine come back." I said without taking my eyes off Edward.

"Mom…" Renesmee began. She stopped whatever she was going to say as I turned and took a step toward her, which caused her to move a step back and the wolves even closer. It wasn't lost on me that these same wolves had sheltered me, had offered to protect me from what I now was, and the subtle shift in their allegiance was a rude awakening.

"I promise, Sweet Pea, we will figure out a way. Just give us time. Give Grandpa and Catherine time. That's all your Dad and I ask."

I watched as her eyes went over the rest of the Cullens, then to Jacob, and then back at me. "No, Mom. I need to be here, with all of you. It's where I belong." With that, Jake scooped her up into his arms.

"Jake, no! Put me down! Mom! Dad!" she screamed, as Jacob ran with her, Seth and Paul on either side of them. "NOOOOOOOOO!" She continued, her plea echoing until it was silenced by the distance.

I glanced back at my husband, his eyes following their retreat, Carlisle now beside him.

"Edward, it's only for a little while. She will come to understand." Carlisle's hand patted Edward's shoulder, and I hoped that his words somehow broke through to him. Edward's face turned back to Carlisle's, but with a slight shake of his head, I could tell he was disagreeing with whatever Carlisle was thinking.

_Edward, Edward_, I said to myself, my hand going to my forehead. The sudden realization that we were losing her, losing Renesmee, in more ways than I had ever thought imaginable just a few weeks ago, gripped me in terror. She had never defied us like that before, at least not openly and blatantly. While I thought I understood her need to be with the family, something else was telling me this was more than that.

_It's bad enough I'm a freak to everyone else…_ Her words echoed in my head once more. Was that what she really thought? We had never made her feel that way, different. We had only been trying to protect her, to keep from harm, to… Or _had_ we?

"Edward?" I called to his back and over the expanse of maybe the twenty feet that was between us but felt like a chasm that would rival the Grand Canyon. My eyes met Esme's, and then Alice's as I looked to them for something akin to strength, or maybe an answer, but their faces held nothing but worry. I was sure Alice hadn't seen any of this, nor would she be able to tell me what was ahead.

"I'm going to go check on Charlie and Catherine." Edward suddenly spoke without looking back at me, and sped away, following the trail that Charlie had fled with Catherine in his arms. My hands went around my neck, feeling like it was stiff with the tension even though I knew it wasn't. I wanted to scream as loud as Renesmee. No, even louder. Even my vampire brain couldn't handle it all anymore, and my husband, my Edward had just left, fleeing from me, from my touch, and depriving me of his when I most needed reassuring.

It was Esme who finally dared come forward to me, her arm going around my shoulders. "Bella, I believe this is what they call the teenage years." She tried to joke.

"Yeah, teenage years on half-vamp acid." Emmett muttered, his arms crossed, and Rosalie's touch not seeming to help him either.

"Bella, if you want, I can try to go talk to her. Maybe they'll let Jasper and I…" Alice walked over to Jasper, wrapping her hand around his upper arm.

"Perhaps, Darlin', it might be best if just you did." Jasper turned into her, and tossed his arm around her. "She'll think I'm trying to control her if I'm there, even if I'm just tryin' to help. I'll wait for you, just outside of my reach." Jasper glanced back at me. "That is, if it's alright with you, Bella."

I simply nodded, looking up at the both of them. "Hopefully she'll listen to you, Alice."

**~~o~~o~~o~~o~~**

No matter how much I tried to deny it, there was something different about her tonight. Defiant yes, but angry and frustrated too. Edward and I had always prided ourselves on how smart she was, but it was obvious after this row that Renesmee either didn't understand the danger fully, or pressed this issue for some other reason. Only Edward could possibly know, besides Jacob, and I wasn't sure I wanted to ask him to reveal to me anything that he saw in her head. At least not now, while he was distant and obviously not only mad at himself, but with me as well.

I let my eyes roam the backyard and through the trees, if for no other reason than to not look at him, to leave him to whatever it was he needed to work out, silently hoping he would come back to me when he did.

"Bella?" I turned in a flash before he was even finished saying my name. He slowly took a few steps, and then was in front of me, gathering me in his arms. "I'm…sorry." He whispered into my hair as his arms engulfed me. "I'm just…"

"She didn't mean it. She's angry."

"Oh, she meant it. Meant every word."

I pulled my head from his chest, to look into his eyes, my fingers splaying over his cheek. "Did you…did you see anything? From Renesmee, I mean?" His kiss on my forehead and subsequent pull to him told me he did.

"Just a few quick images which were of Jacob mostly. She just doesn't understand the danger, especially since it's her own grandfather. She's frustrated, hurt, confused, everything she said. She feels like the odd man out, even with Jacob. He's…"

I felt Edward tense. "He's what?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"He's been trying to make her feel otherwise, to show her how much…how much he cares for her. She's still stuck on the whole imprinting thing, almost as if she wants him to prove to her that he loves her and it's not just some hocus pocus…crap, as she called it."

"Do you think coming here was part of that?

"Yes and no." His hand caressed my back. "Part of it is some of the kids on the reservation just being kids. Staring, whispering comments about her. She can hear them and tries to ignore them. They're young and don't really know her whole story, at least not yet, and she hasn't told Jacob about them."

I brought my head back out from his chest. "They're teasing her? Since when? No one on the Rez has ever said anything to her."

"Yes. They have." Edward admitted. "Little things, here and there. She never told us, but I saw occasionally. She didn't mention it, and I thought it better if we waited for her to tell us."

Something inside me twisted at the thought, and old feelings, human feelings came to the surface. I remembered what it felt like to be different, if only vaguely, those old feelings of inadequacy having been wiped away by Edward and everything that had happened since him. "Renesmee's old enough not to let something like that bother her." When Edward continued to look past me, not answering, I prodded, "Isn't she?"

Edward pulled back, his hands sliding down my arms to take my hands. "It's not just that. Now, with her being away from us, she feels very much alone. Coming here was her way of not wanting to be left out. What she just said in anger, was just that, but I could _feel_ it. She's very…determined." Edward's index finger pushed under my chin. "It reminds me of someone."

It was a playful gesture, but even as I returned his gaze his slight grin didn't reach his eyes. Looking beyond him, I stared out over the trees, toward where my daughter was now, hurting. "Edward, it's inevitable. She's a part of this family and all we've done is…"

"I know. Perhaps I was a bit harsh when I…I was just afraid. I was terrified we wouldn't make it back in time, and I was trying to break through to Catherine and the nightmare that I saw in her head. Nessie doesn't realize how close she came to..."

Edward trailed off and I turned to look out over the direction that Charlie and Catherine had gone, feeling his arms come around me. Yes, it had been close. Too close. Thinking again how we had arrived just in time, just before…Catherine being held by Carlisle, Emmett's arms around Charlie on the property line perimeter. But neither one had…

"Edward, Catherine didn't go after her. Neither did Charlie for that matter."

He rested his head on my shoulder. "No, but that's most likely because they were both being held." He suddenly lifted his head, and I turned just enough to see him looking off into the distance. "Charlie and Catherine are on their way back."

Catherine hadn't gone after her. As a matter of fact, she had _warned_ Renesmee to run away. As much as I knew about newborns, which wasn't much, I knew this wasn't typical. Newborns shouldn't have that kind of control, that kind of clarity of thought.

I turned in the direction that Edward was looking, going over and over in my head the scene that had just played out, wracking my brain to give credence to the little spark of hope that refused to be put out.

**CathPOV**

The rush of the warm liquid down my throat was both calming and exhilarating, although there was still some part of me that muttered "eww" in the back of my brain. I was very aware of Charlie off to the side. He had taken his animal farther from me and I knew it had been on purpose, even if he didn't yet. It seemed similar to territorial urges, or maybe just as simple as my kill, my eats. I made sure to focus on my own, a brief image of that first time I'd seen Charlie have at it, and the strange reactions that had stirred through me when he'd taken down his first prey, until I'd run after the other one. I couldn't really fully understand it all yet, but I did know they came without thinking, or rationalizing. My body just…reacted, as instinctual as breathing _had_ been.

I sat back on my heels, licking the last traces of blood from my lips, holding out the edges of Jasper's shirt and looking down to make sure I had been careful enough to not get any on it. Good thing it was black, because there were a few errant drops here and there. Hell, when would I get better, or at least neater, at this?

"If we get back now, you can get that in the wash." Charlie's voice floated over to me and I turned to see him hoisting the animal on his shoulder and walking toward me. "Emmett said they like to bury them when they're through." He came over and grabbed mine as I stood up. There was something immensely hot about seeing Charlie's shirt torn, his chest and abs in full view, with two animals slung over his shoulders. I tried very hard to stay where I was. Very, very hard.

It was the same feeling I got when Charlie was carrying me away from the house, away from Renesmee, and I had smelled the blood on him.

Something about blood made me want him. I had literally thrown him down, and myself on top of him, attacking him and the traces of blood that were still on him. Charlie had said it was cougar, but the feeling flowing through me now was the same, even though the animal wasn't.

Charlie finished burying both underneath a tree, cleaning the dirt and brush from his hands with some leaves and what was left of his shirt, until he turned to me, stopping suddenly in his tracks as his eyes met mine. I could feel it from him, and I knew damn well he was probably feeling it from me. This intensity, this adrenaline, this…_lust_.

"Baby…" It was partly a question, his voice low, extremely sexy and…inviting.

I imagined myself on top of him again, ripping his shirt, licking and kissing his skin, until…it started to blur and morph, and then…then…that face. Damian's face above my own. Closing my eyes, my hands covered my face, my head shaking back and forth. I needed Charlie's face there, only Charlie. I focused on his hair, his warm brown eyes from memory, that mustache that made my body sing, and just as Damian's face was fading, Charlie's arm were around me, my head in his chest.

"What is it? Talk to me." With his lips in my hair, his voice in my ear, the safety that his arms gave me, the image of Damian dissolved, but the feeling of wanting Charlie didn't.

"I _feel_ it." He said into my ear. "It's the same thing you were giving off before, along with…you're _afraid_." He let me go, taking my hands away, and I slowly brought my eyes to his, eyes that were no longer brown, but nearing the golden hue of everyone else. They were still Charlie's eyes, full of concern, as his hand softly cupped the side of my face.

"Y-yes." I nodded up to him. "It was the same as before, but then…his face. It's always his face first, like it just appears out of nowhere." I tugged him back to me, my cheek once again against him. "I hate it, Charlie. I hate when I feel…what I feel for you, he just…appears."

His hand on the small of my back clenched and unclenched my shirt, until his fingers ran slowly up my spine. "That's why they're called flashbacks."

I pulled back enough to slide both of my hands to his chest. "I want them to go away. I want…" I glanced at his lips "you. I do. I just don't know how."

Charlie smiled down, and softly kissed my lips with his, "I know" and then slid his arm down, bending me into him. "We'll work on it when we get away. But for now, we need to get back," he said, kissing me once more. "I need to know what they found."

I suddenly remembered mine and Edward's thought-convo before Charlie and I had left to hunt.

_"Nessie's gone, and it's ok for you and Charlie to come back."_

"_Is she ok? Is everyone…what the hell was that? What happened?"_

"_It's fine. For now." _

"_Did you find…?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Ok, we're just going to hunt and then we'll be back."_

"_Alright. Take your time. The others went out, too."_

"_We'll be back asap."_

Edward had let slip two scenes: a laptop screen too quick for me to see what was on it, and a glance at Nessie, her arms crossed looking pissed.

Charlie began walking, guiding me forward with him his hand still on my back. "Edward said they found something, but I think there might be more to it than just that."

"Like what?" Charlie began to run, taking my hand.

"He was different. I mean, in his head he was different. I can't really describe it, but it's almost like bland, like there wasn't anything around his words. He let slip two things, a laptop screen and Nessie."

Charlie kept running, glancing over at me and then back ahead. "Well I'm sure you were seeing Nessie due to whatever they did to get her out of there, but the laptop must be something they found."

We were almost half way back, when I heard him, felt him, and I stopped dead in my tracks. Charlie slid to a stop on the dewy ground. "What?" he asked, his hand reaching for my upper arm.

Edward's head swam with the images and guilt as I saw and heard nearly everything that had happened since Charlie and I had been gone.

"They fought. Edward, Nessie, Jake, all of them. Jake took Nessie away screaming."

"He _did_? How bad was it?"

"Bad. Edward is torn up about it, but Bella is with him."

"Where is everyone else?"

"They've gone. It's just Edward and Bella."

"C'mon, we need to…"

"Wait. He's…ok. It's ok. I think."

"C'mon." Charlie said, once again taking my hand, the both of us running. I let Edward know we were coming.

**CharliePOV**

Catherine and I were just out of line of sight to the back of the house, when she tugged my arm.

"Maybe we should just walk up..." The slight twitch of her chin and I knew she heard something. "Nevermind. Edward is saying it's ok."

Well I sure as hell didn't want to intrude on whatever Bella and Edward were fighting about, but the cop in me _really _wanted to know what they had found. Glancing at Catherine, I had a gut feeling this wasn't going to be easy for her, so I let her set the pace, and it was a fast walk at least.

We came through the trees and Bella and Edward were still on the patio waiting.

"Dad, Catherine. Are you alright?" Bella came running up to us, looking at me, then at Catherine.

I just nodded as Catherine spoke. "I think I am. For now." I knew she was telling the truth. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"You don't need to apologize, Catherine. Nessie should never have come here." My son-in-law was still partly a mystery to me, but even I could sense he was ticked.

"Yes, but we'll deal with Renesmee tomorrow, Edward." Bella looked at Edward and then at both Catherine and me. Catherine had said something happened, but something told me it was more than just Nessie disobeying and coming here.

"Where is everyone?" I asked if only to try and to change the subject.

"They're not far. They should be back soon." Edward nodded to the West, which told me enough.

But I wasn't going to wait for them. "Catherine said you found something about him."

Edward glanced at Bella and then back at me. "We found a laptop. Damian's laptop."

Something about Bella made me turn and eye her over, and even though she tried to hide it and almost did it well, I knew my daughter.

"Alright, why don't you start fillin' me in then." She didn't look up from wherever she was staring at on the ground, Edward standing as still as a statue.

"Let's go back to the house and wait for the others." Edward finally said.

_Yep, that's a sure sign. _

"Alright." I simply said, but as Edward and Bella turned to walk back up to the house, Catherine squeezed my hand tighter. I pulled her closer, feeling her nervousness start to creep up by just the feeling coming from her hand in mine. "You saw," I said as I kissed her forehead and looked out beyond. I could see Carlisle and Esme already, running side-by-side. Catherine merely nodded, and what was left of my cop instinct told me this wasn't going to be good.

We had walked through the door, and were just settling into the living room, when Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rose came in. I'd pulled Catherine over to one of the chairs and onto my lap, wanting her as close as possible, if only to shield her from any thoughts that might scare her, although at a time like this, I would have liked some of that mindreading shit for myself.

Carlisle walked over to us both, kneeling on one knee in front of Catherine, carefully taking her hand. She flinched just a bit, but let him. The small victory wasn't lost on me.

"You seem to be doing better." Carlisle smiled at her.

"A little, yes. I'm sorry…"

Carlisle waved her off with his free hand. "No need to apologize. It happens, happened, to us all. I'm just glad we were here for you. I'm sorry I had to hold you like that. I know it was upsetting for you."

"No, I'm glad you did. I'm glad you were all there." Catherine looked up, finding Rosalie and then Esme. "I'm sorry to you both too, for kicking you."

Esme came up just off behind Carlisle. "Don't even think upon it again. There was no harm done. Rose and I are just fine, and I for one am glad to see you are too." I decided at that moment that Esme had to be the kindest person I'd ever known, even if she was a vamp, and for some reason, I was really glad she was on our side.

Still holding Catherine's hand, Carlisle turned back to Catherine. "I'm sure Nessie didn't want to start anything by coming here. But I am curious, when you told her to run, do you remember that?"

Catherine shifted, as if considering looking back at me, but stopped midway and slowly turned back to Carlisle. I felt the churning inside her spike. "Yes, yes I do."

I put my hand on Catherine's shoulder, moving it just a little, trying to relax both her and me. "I remember bits and pieces of most of it, the inability to focus on anything but…but there was a point where Edward's voice, and another, kept telling me that she was his daughter, and Charlie's granddaughter. It was something about…knowing that, or recognizing that, which made me able to feel Jasper and Charlie. At least I _think_ that's what it was."

Carlisle stood up, and walked over to the other chair across from us, his elbows resting on his knees as Esme came up beside him. Rose and Bella took spots on the couch, with Emmett and Edward standing on either side. I wrapped my arm around Catherine, feeling once again that vibe like she would've been panting if we were still breathing. I knew I needed to tell Carlisle my theory about Nessie, and there was no time like the present.

"Carlisle, I don't know much about…about what we now are, but I think I should tell you something. When I was running back with Emmett, my goal was to get to Catherine, because, well, because I knew I could help her. When I reached the back of the house where I could smell Nessie's the most, yeah I…I had thoughts. I don't know how, or why, except to say that I knew she was my granddaughter, and that I couldn't possibly…take a bite out of her."

Catherine turned halfway to look at me, putting her hand over mine that was at her waist. I couldn't help to push away her hair from her shoulder so I could see her face better.

"Catherine and I talked about it, and realized that we're both related to Nessie, and I think that might have something to do with it." As I said it, Catherine looked at me and I tried to smile back at her.

"Well, ain't _that_ something." Emmett said from next to Rose.

"It's an interesting theory, Charlie." Carlisle sat back in his chair, as Esme took his hand in hers.

"It is." Edward said, as Bella looked up at him. "Bella, do you remember feeling anything similar when Nessie was born, that first time you saw her?"

Bella looked back at both Catherine and me with a small smile coming to her face. Other than Catherine's, there was no smile I was happier to see at the moment.

"I just remember wanting to hold her. She was my daughter and I hadn't seen her for days, not since you held her to me that…" Bella lowered her head, and Edward put his hand on her shoulder. I knew I had missed something, or something had happened, but I wasn't quite sure I wanted to know about the birth of my half human, half-vampire granddaughter. Something told me it wasn't pretty, not that childbirth ever was.

"But I just knew I wouldn't hurt her." Bella glanced up and from my vantage point, I could tell she was looking at Catherine.

From what I could tell, Catherine seemed comforted by what Bella had said, and looked back at her. "Bella, I'm not so sure, even now, but something told me that she needed to get away from me."

"If you were that cognizant of danger to her, Catherine, that's a good sign. Most newborns wouldn't recognize anything except for the need to feed." Carlisle explained.

"Yes." Edward chimed in. "Newborns usually can't distinguish, let alone choose."

_Well, ain't that somethin'. _

Carlisle didn't give me the chance to think more about what Edward had said, his eyes meeting mine and then Catherine's. "Sooner or later you both will have to meet Nessie. I didn't anticipate this way, initially, but I think even in this…mistake, we've all learned something that's quite possibly helpful. We can discuss it more later, alone, but right now," he paused, looking around the room, "I think we should discuss what the others found."

The change of subject was in response to all of us hearing Alice and Jasper approaching, and I turned just enough to see both of them walk through the patio doors.

"Sounds like we're just in time." Jasper walked over and stood behind the couch, letting Alice take the seat between Bella and Rose.

"How was Renesmee?" Bella asked as Alice sat down.

"She didn't want to see me. I tried, Bella. I did." Alice wrapped her arm around Bella. "It's probably too soon. Don't worry. We can talk to her tomorrow."

I could tell it wasn't the news my daughter wanted. "It's ok. I know you tried." Bella said softly, as Edward sat on the armrest of the couch and reached down to take her hand.

Whatever had gone down while Catherine and were away must have been bad, but I needed to know what they found, and I didn't want to wait any longer. When no one said anything else about Nessie, I just got right to it. "So Edward tells me you all found a laptop. Were you able to see what was on it?"

It was Jasper who answered me. "Emails and a couple of chats between Damian and Aro. He was sent by Aro to…" His glance to Catherine said everything, and I pulled her even closer.

"It's ok, Jasper. I've seen it. Just…just say it." Catherine's voice was calm, but her hand squeezed mine like a vice.

Jasper hands went to Alice's shoulders, as she leaned back, her one hand reached up to his. "He was sent to kill you. Why, we're still not sure, but between Alice's vision earlier, and what we read, you seem to have some affect on Aro's future, or at least that's what I'm thinkin'."

Catherine leaned back into me even more. "But how could I? I didn't even…I wasn't…I was just a human when he…when I first saw him. I didn't even know any of you."

"You _saw_ him?" I was pretty sure Emmett's shock was just a tad more than what was on the faces of everybody else.

"Yeah. In the woods near my cabin. I was walking on one of the trails." I couldn't see Catherine's face, but I didn't need to, whatever she was thinking, remembering, started to flow into me like the blackness I'd felt before, just not as heavy.

I pulled her closer, with my hand around her waist. "I got this, Cath." I said softly near her ear, and then look over at Jasper. "He stopped her in the woods, but she got away from him. Ran straight out and back to her cabin, where I happened to be waiting for her." It was enough information. I didn't want to her going there, seeing him, _thinking_ of him, anymore.

"He let you escape?" Rose's surprise seem to upset Catherine even more, with Catherine just nodding an answer. So I glanced over at Jasper, and I could feel whatever he was doing flow through her and into me. Damn if he didn't calm her down a bit. Calm us both, actually.

"Interesting." Carlisle said.

Jasper continued. "Actually, I think your meeting Charlie changed things. Damian sent an email to Aro telling him of Charlie, and Aro instructed him not to harm Charlie, that Bella was his daughter. Whatever Damian's purpose, he was supposed to stay clear of all of us. Charlie, I think you saved Catherine not just once… but twice."

"Or three times," Alice said. "By meeting her, by being there when she ran out of the woods, and ultimately by…choosing for her."

I sat for a minute, thinking about what Alice had said. I would do it a thousand more times, if it meant having Catherine with me. Her sudden gentle rub over my hand made me think she heard me, and I could feel her humming nerves die back a bit.

"I had another vision while at the motel." From the looks on Edward's, Jasper's, and Bella faces, I could tell they already knew.

"What did you see, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

"Jasper and I…we were there. With Charlie and Catherine." Esme gasped.

"There? Where?" I hoped it was Vegas, or maybe a beach somewhere.

"Alice had a vision before, of you and Catherine in Volterra." Carlisle explained. "The unique part about it was that Aro, Marcus, and Caius weren't."

"And that's a bad thing?" Catherine literally took the words right out of my mouth.

"It's very…unusual." Edward answered, and I looked from him back at Carlisle.

Ok, so Catherine and I, along with Jasper and Alice might someday be in Volterra. I wasn't quite sure of the significance, but I knew that was their base, or at least that's what I gathered. It's also the place where Edward had gone when Bella..._fuck_.

_Remain calm, Swan, if only for Catherine_.

I needed more. "But this Aro guy, what's the story with him? Why would he even come after Catherine if she didn't even know any of you, me even, when Damian started…?" I happened to glance over at Alice, and then it hit me. If _she_ could see the future, maybe…

"Wait, can _he_ see the future too?"

Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Bella all turned to look at Carlisle. I got that feeling again, the feeling I had last night, that there was more to this than I knew, and I was about to find out.

"Charlie, Catherine, I think it's time you know what happened here. With Aro and the Volturi." With that, Bella got up from the couch and walked over to the back windows.

"I figured there was more." I didn't bother to hide what was in my head, as Catherine's head turned to watch Bella walk away.

"Dad, just…listen." Bella said from off behind me.

With that, Carlisle sat forward again, taking Esme's hand and bringing it into his other one.

Up until that moment, I would've said nothing shocked me anymore. Until Carlisle started in, explaining how the Volturi had come here, to Forks, because of Nessie.

How because some chick named Irina had seen Nessie as a child and had told Aro about her. Reported her as something that was against the law.

How Alice and Jasper had left to go find the others, how they all had called in reinforcements, friends, from around the world to band with them and to prove Nessie was not a turned child.

How there had been twenty vampires in and around this house, how some of them had been at the wedding and I hadn't even noticed. I missed what he said after that because I was too busy thinking about how Forks' finest never even had a clue.

How they had discovered Bella's shield, and how someone named Zafrina had helped her learn to use it.

Finally, the part where they'd all met in a field, right here in Forks. How all of the wolves had been there, and how Bella sent Nessie away clinging to Jake's back. How Bella's shield had protected them all from powers of some Jane and Alec and others Aro had brought with him, and that Irina had been the only casualty.

Even without Carlisle saying it, it was obvious to me this Aro guy had come looking for a fight. But there was something Carlisle wasn't saying, and I could feel it in my gut.

"But he wasn't just trying to get his hands on Nessie, was he?" I glanced over at Edward, and then Jasper and Alice. I would've looked straight at Bella if she weren't standing off somewhere. A mindreader, a future-seer, a mojo manipulator, and a shield. I didn't have to know much about vamps to know that if Aro got his hands on them, he would be invincible.

"No, Charlie."

I clutched at Catherine's shirt beneath my hand, grabbing her other hand in mine, weaving my fingers between hers, and I could feel it in her. I could feel her mind putting it all together just as mine was.

If Aro came back, him and his goons, it wouldn't be a friendly visit. No, he'd be out for blood, so to speak, and the elimination of at least some of the people in this room and the capture of others, including my daughter.

Even with his calm delivery, and Jasper's help, I could feel Catherine's anxiety reaching maximum overdrive, and I knew I was doing nothing to help her.

Because even if she didn't understand, I did.

The more Carlisle talked, the more I knew. The Volturi and these vampires sitting here with me were walking the thinnest fence rails in the history of fences. From what I could tell about what they said earlier when Alice had the vision here in this room, this Aro guy wasn't happy.

Carlisle took a deep breath before saying the last piece of information.

"What they found today at the motel, it's obvious that Damian was sent to kill you, Catherine. The only possible reason for that is you pose a threat to him."

Carlisle's gaze went from Catherine to me. "Charlie you asked if he could see he future. He has what we call an Oracle, and he's had it for a very long time, although as of late it hasn't been giving him all of the information, all of the _correct_ information, so I can gather. I think he received information that Catherine, somehow, someway, would have something to do with his…downfall, and sent Damian to get rid of her before that could happen."

Catherine suddenly sat up a bit, but still holding my hand. "Do you think he knows?" Catherine looked down and tugged my hand a bit. "About Charlie and me?"

If I could just get the damn woman to stop thinking.

"I don't know if he knows that you've been turned, but I suspect he knows something has gone wrong." Carlisle answered her.

"So what you're saying, I think, is that this Aro guy will be sending others…here." I didn't say for Catherine out loud, but tilted my head in her general direction to let Carlisle know what I was thinking.

Carlisle thought long and hard before answering, looking down at Esme's hand in his.

But it was Jasper who laid it all on the line. "Our guess is it won't be others. I suspect it will be all of them. Again. And more. And not just for Catherine."

You could hear a pin drop, even if we weren't all vamps with supersonic hearing now. Catherine sat up even straighter than she was, her fingers weaving in between my own at her waist, and bringing my other hand around her, squeezing them both. At first I could tell she was panicked, as the zings of energy from her came into me, but then all of a sudden it died back. She almost seemed calm, but it wasn't that. I couldn't put my finger on it.

"I should go. I should leave you all. Maybe they'll-"

"What?" I sat up, clutching her to me, for some reason afraid she would bolt right there. It was then that I knew what it was that I was feeling from her.

Resignation.

"You aren't going anywhere. I didn't let Carlisle here…uh…chow on my neck for nothing." It was all I could think of to say. By no means what I wanted, but I wasn't going to get all mushy in a room full of Cullens that included my daughter.

"But Charlie, if I left then maybe…" Catherine looked around the room and then over to Carlisle, "maybe all of you would be safe."

"They would find you, Catherine. And us. It's not just you-"

Emmett spoke over Jasper. "If they're giving us a second chance-"

"Emmett." Rose cut him off, just has Emmett knelt down and looked straight her.

"Awww, don't worry, babe, I won't let anything happen to you. Besides, we've added more to the ranks." He grinned as he took her hand. I nearly laughed at the big guy down on one knee.

"Pfft." Rose said as she stood up, "I can take care of my own ass." I watched them both as Rose walked out of view. "Sorry Esme," Rose said from somewhere behind me, but I knew she was with Bella.

"I wouldn't be so enthused, Emmett. Chances are, they've been using what they've learned about us from their last visit. I suspect it may be why Alice is unable to get much more than what she's seen. Also, it's given them more time to prepare."

"Prepare for what?" I threw out.

"Prepare ways to block me." Edward said rather flatly.

"It's not just you, Edward." Jasper glanced from Edward back to me. "Charlie, there's things we can do, Edward, Bella, Alice, and me, that Aro wasn't aware of last time. We don't have that element of surprise anymore. They know about the wolves. The only surprise we'll most likely have…is the two of you."

From that moment, I knew. After our time away, after I was hopefully able to help Catherine, Jasper and I were going to have some serious strategy talks.

"We're a family, Catherine, and Jasper's right. Even if you did go away, you and Charlie, he would find you, and I won't allow it." That last part sounded much like the Doc I'd come to know.

"Neither will I." No one was going to fuck with Catherine anymore, nor my daughter or Nessie. Not anyone in this room.

"Right now, being that Alice hasn't seen any sign that they're coming, we hopefully have some time." Jasper leaned down and kissed the top of Alice's head.

Catherine suddenly got up, and walked over to Bella still looking out the glass. I let her go, but I wasn't happy. I couldn't help her when she was out of reach, not to mention the fact that she'd be hearing everything they were thinking now.

"Bella…" but she didn't finish as Bella wrapped her in a giant hug.

"Don't, Catherine. I know what you're thinking. If you wouldn't have come here…" and suddenly they were silent, Catherine nodding, looking as if she would cry if she still could, her arms going tightly around Bella.

"Yes. Yes, I do." Catherine said out loud.

Bella pulled away just a bit to look at Catherine. "Well, then why don't you and my Dad go stay at our cottage for awhile, just the two of you. Edward and I can take you there now. Stay for a few days, or however long you need. We'll stay up here with the family."

Catherine's eyes whipped to mine, and I couldn't help but look at Bella and then back at Edward. "You two have a house? Somewhere around here?" I always wondered how all of them fit in this one, but never bothered to ask.

"Yes. It's a ways off the beaten path, mostly to hide Nessie. You're more than welcome to use it. The both of you." Edward then looked across the room at Catherine, and nodded as if he was answering a question.

"Charlie and I actually did want to…get away. We were thinking of going…camping." Emmett busted out laughing first, followed by Jasper, Rose, and Alice. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was so funny.

"We have all of the gear you'll need, Charlie." Carlisle said, smiling at me. Bella was suddenly at my side, with Catherine taking a seat back on my lap.

"Dad, remind me to tell you why the Cullens have so much camping gear." Even Catherine was smiling. Well, obviously I was the only one in the room who didn't get the joke.

"I can show you a spot where you'll be safe from humans, and…" Emmett smirked, "all of us."

"Oh!" Alice suddenly squealed from the couch, turning and grabbing Rose's arm, while I felt Catherine flinch in my lap.

"What?" Catherine had sat across my lap this time, and at least now I could see her face. She was staring at Alice, her lips slightly parted.

"Alice?" Jasper said, coming around the couch to sit behind her, his hands on her arm.

"It's nothing. Nothing at all." She shook her head as she said it, her eyes squeezed shut. It was then I caught Edward looking at me, and from where I sat, it looked like he might be grinning just a bit.

Dammit, I wanted that mind reading shit right now.

"Charlie, Catherine, why don't you both come with Carlisle and me and we'll get you the gear." Esme stood up, holding out her hand to us.

"Is somebody gonna tell me what just happened?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure no one was going to tell me.

"C'mon Chief," Carlisle stood up. "We'll all find out soon enough."

Catherine slowly got up from my lap, still looking at Alice, and then at Edward. He just shook his head and walked behind the couch, toward the back doors.

"Bella, let's go back to the house for a bit. I think I want to call Jacob in the morning and have him bring Nessie home for a bit."

Catherine stopped walking and turned to look at Edward. "We'll go…far enough away."

"I know you will." Edward glanced back at Catherine as Bella came up to take his hand, but this time it was Catherine nodding.

As I got up from the chair still wondering what the hell Alice had seen, I waved at Bella and Edward as they left saying their goodbyes to everyone as they went through the door. Whatever it was, Alice's latest vision must not have been about us or the Volturi, or anything life threatening or she would have said something.

_Wouldn't she?_

As I took Catherine's hand and followed behind Carlisle as Esme led us through the house, I pushed aside thoughts of Alice, and focused on the two biggest questions still left unanswered. The two most important things to me, and Catherine, right now, and for the next few days.

How in the hell was I going help Catherine, and how much time did I have?

* * *

**A/N:** A lot of info in this chapter, and a lot of dialogue. I hope it was worth the wait. The next one will be up in about 10 minutes. :D

Thanks so much for reading, and if you choose, reviewing.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N:** HIIII! Yes! I'm still here. Yes, I'm still alive. I want to send special hugs to all of you wonderful readers who have stuck with me and this fic, and for all of your reviews, PMs, and emails with your concern. I'm still here...and I'm still writing. Slower than ever, I know, and I'm sorry beyond words.

For all of you that keep reviewing with your positivity, yes, I'm reading ever single one, and they keep me going. I know I said I'd respond to the last chapter, but well, I have no excuses except to say that I've spent every spare moment trying to write this latest chapter, and at 9,849 words, I hope I've given you enough. ;)

Special thanks to my uber beta on Twi'd, Jenny Cullen, who has been at my side with this for an entire year. Without her, I'm sure parts of my chapters would be "Grammar Don'ts" in some 7th grade English classroom. Thank you, dearest.

And to my Pufferfish, HammerHips, who I got to meet IN THE FLESH just a few weeks ago. We laughed, we partied, we even had a ghostly experience together. A weekend never to be forgotten. LOL! Love you always.

I can tell you we are just about 3/4 of the way through. The end is in sight. The end has _actually_ been written. Well, for those of you that know me and how I write, it's sure to change, morph, enlarge and well...yeah. lol! But it's there, so there is a light.

Thank you again.

Note, there are three musical selections for this chapter, the first noted at the beginning, the other two at the section where they should begin. One just wasn't enough. ;)

Now... for Ch 29.

* * *

**Chapter 29**

**CathPOV**

Bizet: The Pearl Fishers: "Je Crois Entendre Encore" as played by Joshua Bell

As Esme and Carlisle led us back through the house, they both tried very hard to hide their thoughts from me, but Esme couldn't help her concern. Carlisle flitted from images of camping gear, to what seemed to me was a clinical analysis of my current state, most of it beyond my vocabulary or knowledge. I couldn't concentrate on any of it, though, because my mind was once again on overload, and it took everything in me to hide it from Charlie. For some reason, I knew I needed to, in order to find a way within me to handle it all. At least I knew he couldn't _feel_ it, because for the first time in the last few hours, he wasn't holding me. I knew his intentions were good - pulling me onto his lap to protect me, and to keep my head from hearing everyone else's thoughts after Jasper had filled us in on what they'd found - and a part of me wanted him to. But when Carlisle once again let fly with another Aro and the Volturi story, of their last visit to Forks, and the reality of just what he was saying set in, I began to realize the significance, and I knew Charlie was feeling it, too. He couldn't hide it from me just as much as I couldn't hide it from him.

The most powerful vampire on the planet thought I was a threat to him. He wanted me dead, and had tried once, and failed.

He was not about to stop until I was history.

Me and some of the Cullens.

Which meant, in my head, that not only was I a threat to him, but the Cullens and Charlie, as well.

When Bella had walked away and to the back of the house to stare out, I knew whatever Carlisle was about to tell us was going to be bad, really bad, and by the time he'd finished, I had no doubt that I was the cause of all the present trouble. If only I hadn't come to Forks, if only my car hadn't broken down, if only Charlie hadn't been driving by; those were the easy ones. Of all the forks in the road, of all the choices that were possible - all of the outcomes that would have been better for everyone, if I had just chosen somewhere different, someplace different. I was even more thankful that I knew Edward couldn't hear me. It was the ultimate in irony. If I had not come here, I would not have involved any of them in this bizarre twist of fate. I would most likely be dead by now, and they would be carrying on with their lives as they knew them.

No matter how I looked at it, I was fortune's bitch, and whether or not it was fate that led me here, nothing good had come of my_ chance_ visit to Forks.

Nothing, except Charlie.

_And therein lies the rub._ Shakespeare, you relevant arse.

For the little time that we had been together so far, I could never imagine life, or this _non_-life, without him in it. Not anymore. The fact that this family, the Cullens, were ready and willing to help me, help us, even though doing so might mean that I could once again be the reason they could be hurt or...worse.

It was with this possibility, no the almost _probability_ that these Volturi bastards would come again that my biggest fear took hold, and it wasn't death. The one thought I tried to push out of my mind, the one that frightened me even more than their coming here...

What if something happened to Charlie.

What Jasper had implied about his, Alice's, Bella's, and Edward's abilities made me think about my own. Something told me that if Aro knew, he would want me, too, which left Charlie...

Vulnerable.

If there was anything I had learned about my Chief in the just shy of a month that I'd known him, it was that he wouldn't hesitate to take a proverbial bullet for me. When the thought of being this way, living this way, without Charlie hit me, it was almost too much to bear.

It was at that moment I went to Bella. Even as the flood of everyone's thoughts came to me as I got up from Charlie's lap, even as I saw glimpses of what I took to be the last time the Volturi were here, each Cullen remembering scenes and their worry reaching me. Even as I heard Edward's voice call to me, questioning, I reached Bella. Her arms enveloped me, and even though I initially flinched, I didn't want to pull away. She spoke in an unnecessary whisper and low enough for only my ear, since besides Charlie, hers was the only head I couldn't hear.

"Don't for a minute blame yourself. I'm sure none of them are thinking that way; in fact, I for one am glad you came here. You could be dead, Catherine, if you hadn't. _ Really_ dead. Charlie would never have met you, and vice versa. I've never seen him like this, and it's because of you, and I know you love him just as much."

I squeezed her tighter, amazed at how in tune she was with what was in my head.

"Yes. Yes, I do." It was the truth, so much so that I answered rather loudly, letting out all of the conviction behind my words.

When Bella had suggested that Charlie and I stay at their cottage for a while, and Edward gave me a glimpse of the inside of a house I'd never seen, it suddenly made me anxious. I already felt like I was invading their lives, turning their world upside down, and with everything that had happened with Nessie, it just seemed...wrong for Charlie and me to go there. When I mentioned camping and everyone laughed, each of them giving me scenes as to why it was so funny - for a moment, I caught myself smiling. Camping as an excuse to get out of school to hunt was really quite a stretch, but it felt good to laugh, even so soon after what had been an overwhelming few hours. That and Charlie's charming cluelessness brought a moment of humor, although for me, it didn't last for long.

It was only Carlisle opening a door up ahead and walking into to what turned out to be the garage that distracted me from all that was in my head. Stepping over the threshold, it was quite possibly the biggest garage I'd ever seen. Four cars, a monster of a Jeep, two motorcycles...I wondered for a minute why the hell vampires would need so many cars when they could run almost as fast, without having to obey the rules of the road.

As Charlie walked past me to help Carlisle, I leaned back against the edge of a counter, my eyes going over the expensive cars, but my mind suddenly reeled again.

We were all _vampires_.

I was a _vampire_.

A vampire had...done _that_ to me.

Another vampire wanted me _dead_.

Charlie and I were going to be alone.

Alone.

Somewhere. Out there.

_Charlie and I were going to be alone_.

Now, as Carlisle rummaged in a cabinet, and Esme put things in a large duffel bag, I tried to process, to come to terms with all of it. Even though my body was completely still, I felt like I was running, running like a human, running from the unknown, and not running fast enough to get to where I needed to be. Running, running... My hands went back to clutch the edge of the counter I was leaning on, and my fingers went right through, tearing through whatever material it was.

I could sense both Carlisle and Esme turning to look at me, Esme's thoughts of concern outright, Carlisle's more subdued, with each calling to me in their head.

_"Catherine, are you all right?"_ Carlisle's question came to me.

"Cath?" Charlie dropped the bag in his hand and was suddenly in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. "What is it?"

I looked up into his eyes, now looking nearly like the rest of theirs, then over at Esme and Carlisle, and then back down at the floor.

I didn't know if I could _be alone_ with Charlie.

The last time, in the woods, where I'd..._attacked_ him, the feelings that I didn't understand, the control that neither one of us possessed, but most of all the visions. Of _him_. His face. What he did to me. They invaded every possible moment that Charlie and I ever even came close to...

"I..." Instead of glancing up, I brought my hands in front of me, opening them, and seeing what remained of the countertop. I couldn't put the words to what I wanted to say, staring at my hands and the dust that slid through them and onto the floor.

_"Don't worry for a moment about that, Catherine. We can fix it,"_ Esme's voice soothed in my head.

I felt Charlie's hand come to the side of my face just under my ear, holding it, and the reassurance he was trying to give me.

How could I be alone with Charlie, if I couldn't _be_ with Charlie?

"Catherine, do you want to talk before you and Charlie leave? Privately?" As Carlisle's voice penetrated the abyss I'd felt myself sinking into, Charlie turned back to him, and his hand left my face.

_"Yes, talk to Carlisle."_

_Edward!_

_"I'm sorry. It's just, I could hear it all as Bella and I were leaving."_

_Please. Please, I...just..._

"_Carlisle can help," Edward interrupted. "He's been a doctor longer than you were alive."_

The _were_ alive part of that didn't escape me.

_"Yes, I said were."_

_"Yeah, okay, but I don't know if I can talk to him. About this. I hardly know him."_

_"Sometimes strangers are easier to talk to. Just talk to him."_

Suddenly, Edward's voice disappeared, as if he'd gone out of range.

"Cath?" Charlie had turned back to me, but for some reason, I stared at his chest, unable to meet his eyes.

"Yes, Carlisle. If it would be all right?" It was then I looked up at Charlie. He must've seen something, because for the briefest of moments, his brow scrunched, as if he were in pain, until his hand reached out to mine, brushing the dust off it, and then the other, until he took both of them in his.

"Take as long as you need." He smiled, and then pulled me forward, planting a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Charlie, how about you and I go find the others and go on a little walk. Have you seen the clearing where we play baseball?"

Charlie and I both looked at each other, stunned.

"Baseball?" Charlie said to Esme, while still looking at me.

"Yes. Alice usually lets us know when it's safe to play. I'm sure they can fill you in along the way," Carlisle said, offering an image of a past game to me, and Esme telling me we would all play. Someday. Her hope was interminable.

Carlisle picked up the tent and the duffel. "Alice should be able to tell you how long we will be, and when to come back."

"Oh, here, give me the duffel, Carlisle. I have some other things to put in it," Esme said, taking it from him, with images of clothes and something else I couldn't make out.

I tried to give her a smile, but Charlie's tug on my hands still in his made me look up at him. "I'll be back the minute I get the all clear." He brushed my cheek with the back of his hand, holding it there just long enough for me to feel the _I love you_ he didn't want to speak. Leaning into his hand, I tried to let him know it would be okay, pushing back the nerves that were threatening to break loose.

"We'll use my study, Catherine," Carlisle said as he approached me. "Please." He indicated with his hand for me to walk ahead, but his gentlemanly ways didn't mask the professional voice with which he asked.

"I'll see you in a bit," Charlie tried to reassure me, as I looked one last time at him, and then turned to go through the door and back into the house. I'd never been to a shrink or therapist before. The firsts on this trip just kept on comin'.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Chopin: Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. posth.

"Please, have a seat, Catherine. Anywhere you feel comfortable."

On first glance, Carlisle's study was everything I'd pictured it would be. I only slightly hesitated passing through the doorway, because I couldn't help feel the warmth and masculinity given by the deep brown leather, the rich mahogany of his desk, nor get taken in by rows and rows of books that aligned the many bookshelves. The sight of them all tugged at my heart and my love of the bound, printed word.

Until I spotted the art that graced the walls. Some of it was beautiful, and even my untrained eye and my considerable lack of knowledge was able to surmise its worth. Upon closer look, however, some of it was...rather dark, and quite macabre.

Something told me his patients _never_ saw this room.

I sunk slowly into a rather large and overstuffed leather chair as I quickly glanced around. Vampiric vignettes with religious undertones and depictions of men dressed in period clothing interspersed among picturesque still lifes and other various artifacts. A rather large cross adorned one wall, and I instantly flinched back into my seat.

_"Crosses don't harm us, Catherine,"_ Carlisle assured in my head.

"That is a rather old and misbegotten myth embellished over the years by imaginations and...film." He switched to speaking as he smiled, taking the seat opposite from me.

"Oh." I guess I wouldn't have been able to look at it, from what I could remember of what I'd amassed of what were now useless vamp tips.

_"Don't be afraid or nervous. I'm just going to listen and help where I can." _

Carlisle seemed to be trying very hard to keep his head clear of anything, concentrating on what looked like to me just a black screen. As he rested his elbows on the armrests of his chair, he brought his fingertips to touch in what always reminded me of a house of cards. _Fitting._ In his mind, he let slip an image of when I had crushed the top of the counter in my hands. "So, where would you like to start? I'm not a psychiatrist..."

_But you play one on TV?_ I added silently for him.

"but I've studied extensively..."

I crossed my legs underneath me, Indian style, dropping my gaze to the carpet, feeling suddenly silly and stupid and wanting really badly to just hide somewhere in a corner. Once again, Carlisle's black screen was up.

"Maybe if we start with what happened in the garage?"

This brought my attention back to him, the expression on his face calm and unreadable.

_Let's see, where do I start? So, Doc, I was minding my own business, driving down the road..._

"Or something else? Whatever you feel most comfortable with." His head tilted to the side a bit, as if he was trying to encourage me.

Once again, he was trying very hard to hide his thoughts from me, the image from the garage the only one he'd given away, aside from the thought-convo we were having. He must have had plenty of practice with Edward around, and it made me wonder just how long they'd known each other.

"How long have you known Edward?"

I saw Edward, lying in what looked like a hospital bed, sweaty and delirious with fever.

"Since I turned him in 1918."

Math was something I tried with all costs to avoid, but eight years shy of a hundred years ago told me ninety-two years, and that was longer than anyone in my family, maternal _or_ paternal, had ever lived. Well, now except for _me,_ of course.

"How long have you been a doctor?"

"Since I could be. Long before that, although methods were much more primitive." He laughed softly, a momentary glimpse of something that looked like bloodletting shocked me, and I sat back in my chair.

"You were...you were able to do _that_?"

Carlisle crossed one leg over another, looking almost embarrassed. "It took a great effort, and it still does, but it gets easier with time. The choice I made, the choices we all _make_, are not without some challenges to overcome. As is what I think may be troubling you, Catherine. Yours and Rosalie's situations are...similar, although Rose had more time...before she saved Emmett. You and Charlie, I'm assuming, were together while you were both still human. There's something to be said for forging the bond you both were able to in such a short amount of time."

I merely nodded, running my hands over the soft leather of the armrests, suddenly feeling like a nineteen year old, whose father just found out she had sex.

There was something about Carlisle, though, I wasn't quite sure, that made me feel slightly relaxed. It was something in his voice, or maybe his tone, and it brought back a memory of when I'd heard it weeks ago, when I'd been so sure I was in hell. I suddenly wanted to talk, wanted to ask the questions that I hadn't even thought about asking.

"Does it ever get...better, Carlisle, er, Dr. Cullen?"

"Just Carlisle is fine, Catherine. I'm here with you now more like a friend, and family, who just so happens to have an M.D." He smiled. "Now, does what get better? The urges, the-"

"No, no. I know that will take time. Bella, Edward, and the others have said so. What I mean is..." I didn't know how to put what I wanted to ask.

"You mean what happened to you."

"Yes." I curled my legs up underneath me tighter.

"If I could make a judgment by just seeing Rosalie, I would say yes. But everyone is different, Catherine, and I believe what you're feeling is compounded by the fact that Charlie was there. However, based on the past week, by his actions immediately after and the choices he made, I don't believe you have to worry about the way he feels for you."

Carlisle was right, and I knew he was. Hearing him say it, though, from his perspective, was even more reassuring. Charlie had made a choice to be with me, to be _like_ me, and it was one of the most selfless acts I had ever known. I couldn't imagine what it had been like for him, and it was the one of the few things I didn't want to know. But it occurred to me that I knew nothing of what had happened after, since all I could remember was the burning.

"Can I ask you what happened after you found us? In the cabin? No one's ever really told me, and with everything that's happened, I've never asked."

"We brought you both back here. You had severe injuries, but were already undergoing the change."

"I was?" Even though part of me didn't want to, for the first time, I tried to remember, but the flashes were all the same - his face above me, his hands on me, and the pain. For some reason, I knew that if I wanted to conquer this, I had to remember, not just what my brain kept giving me at certain moments, but everything. The only way to conquer your fears was to face them. Someone, somewhere had said that, but now, I couldn't remember who.

"What did he..." The monster had a name. "What did _Damian_ do to me?"

Carlisle took a moment before answering.

"Please, I want to know."

Carlisle looked across to me, and then down at his lap, as he uncrossed his one leg, and then crossed the other one, folding his hands. "Nearly every bone in the lower half of your body was broken or crushed, including your spine." Carlisle paused again, his eyes meeting mine, and a faint memory came back of a pain shooting up my back. "What blood you had left, you were losing at an alarming rate. Between that and the venom, if Charlie hadn't made the decision he did, we would have had to...be that as it may, I took you back here myself, while the others disposed of Damian, and Bella and Alice brought Charlie back here."

"So you all came. You all were there."

Carlisle's mind remained blank, but little flits of images snuck through, of him entering the cabin, but the rest went dark again. "Edward, Emmett, and Rose took care of Damian, while I Alice and I tended to you. Bella was with Charlie. Jasper was waiting for them at the beach. They brought Damian to him to burn. We'd all gone out looking for you both. Once Edward and Bella figured out where you were, those of us that were close enough came to help. Esme stayed with Nessie and Jake."

Even as Carlisle talked, all I could think of was one thing.

"How was Charlie? Was he badly hurt? I've never...asked him."

A fleeting image of Bella on the floor, kneeling next to Charlie, was all I could make out. From the vantage point Carlisle must have had, he couldn't see Charlie. "His arm was broken, he had a large cut on his face, a fractured rib, and..." A glimpse of an ice pack over Charlie's...

I inwardly cringed at the thought of what that monster had done to Charlie. "He's okay, right? I mean, down there?"

Carlisle's face held its serious expression, his mind a scene of him standing next to a bed with me in it, and Charlie next to me, his hand running down my arm, and then closing over mine.

"Yes, he is perfectly fine, as are you." In his head, I saw him tell Charlie the same thing.

It hadn't even occurred to me to ask if all of my parts will still in working order. If I had been broken in pieces as Carlisle said I had been... but he said I was fine.

"So changing _fixes_ everything?"

"Yes, the process heals everything."

"Everything but my head," I said softly, looking down into my lap.

"I'm afraid that's true. Changing heals the physical, but being a vampire heightens all of your senses, your strength, your cognitive abilities, and your libido."

With that, I looked up again at Carlisle, suddenly feeling a renewed courage. The only answers I would ever get were from this man, this doctor, who was patiently answering and offering all of the knowledge he could. The urge to get answers overcame the fear, and I blurted out the one thing above all others that plagued me.

"I can't stop seeing him. Damian. When Charlie and I...whenever we..." I got up from the chair and walked over to the closest bookcase, trailing my fingertips over the spines, not so much as to avoid his gaze, but feeling as if I couldn't sit any longer. "My heart says one thing, but my head ultimately gets in the way."

"They're called flashbacks, and they're part of something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Certain situations, similarities, will bring them on. Men in the armed forces often suffer from the same thing after returning from war."

"Do they go away?"

"They can, yes. What's difficult to determine for you is that you're a vampire, and don't have many of the same symptoms or reactions that a human would. Physical manifestations like dizziness, headache, fever, just aren't possible. Nightmares, sleeping difficulties, etcetera, won't happen, because we don't sleep. But agitation, hypervigilance, and anger still can, and to a greater measure."

I walked back over to the chair I had been in and sat back down, taking a moment to digest all that Carlisle had just said. The only time I had the flashbacks were in the beginning, when they all were trying to hold me, and with Charlie.

"Can I ask what brings them on for you? Do you know?" Carlisle asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yes, well, at least some of them. When you all held me down, initially, and every time one of you held me after. In the woods, when I saw Jake and the other wolves that first time. And just recently, after Charlie took me away from Nessie. That one was different, though. It started first with the fact that I smelled blood on Charlie, and then I...and then we..." I stopped for a moment, but Carlisle stayed silent.

"I sort of attacked him."

"Attacked him?"

"Yeah. I, er...wanted him...really bad. It was like I knew what I was doing, and then I didn't. We were in the woods, alone. One minute, we were kissing and touching, and the next minute, he was there - Damian - his face in front of me, and all I could see, all I could feel was that night, and him, and..."

"Say it, Catherine."

I felt like I'd been punched. I stared at Carlisle, and then my eyes darted around the room, seeing things in focus, and then out of focus. He wanted me to say it out loud, to admit what he already knew, what they all knew - that awful word and all of its implications. I didn't know why it was important, why he wanted me to, but he was a doctor. There must be a reason.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, seeing Damian once again, letting the memories flood back, feeling my arms pulled above my head, his fingers scrape across my skin, the pain of him inside me, ripping me apart.

"He...he raped me. _Raped_ me," I whispered, as my hands came up to cover my face. I wanted to cry, really cry, but all my body would do was shake with anger. I wanted to throw something, break something, rip something to shreds, but instead, I stayed in the chair, rocking back and forth, unable to remove my hands from covering my face. I felt Carlisle shoot out of the chair and come towards me, his fingers on my hands, pulling them back from my face. When I opened my eyes, he had knelt on one knee in front of me.

"That was very good, Catherine." His weight shifted back as he let go of my hands.

Bringing my eyes back to his, I nearly groaned. "But why?"

"Because admitting what actually happened to you is half the battle." Carlisle stood up and went back to his chair.

"But I have admitted it, in my head, at least. I...know what happened; I was there. So was Charlie." With this, I brought my hands up to my face again, rubbing slowly, and then to the tops of my knees, looking at the floor. Yes, Charlie had been there, had been nearly beat to death, and had seen Damian and all his vile...

"Charlie doesn't look upon you any differently, Catherine, if that's what you're thinking."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm a doctor, yes, but I'm also a man, and I know every bit of what he's feeling. When I found Rose that night, all I'd kept wishing was that I would've been there. I could have..." Carlisle trailed off for a moment, causing me to look up. I could feel his anger as his thoughts betrayed him - the image of his view of Rose, there on the street when he found her. My face couldn't help but react to what I'd just seen, scrunching up to try and dispel the vision.

"He would've died in your place that night, if he could have."

"I know he would have. It's what scares me now."

"Now?"

"Yes, with all of this talk of the Volturi, what I've caused, what Charlie has done, what I've brought upon all of you."

"The situation with the Volturi is another matter, Catherine, and you did nothing at all to change what was already a precarious stalemate. Aro made his choice and set the wheels into motion. We'll be ready for them, whenever they decide to make their move, if they decide to. Aro isn't a fool, although this latest maneuver just solidifies a view I've so long denied. We have many friends who've helped us in the past. For right now, I'm more concerned about you, and about Charlie."

"You sound so sure."

"It's a confidence built from what I now see as unavoidable, a mistake I've made for too long - believing that our friendship would endure. I see Aro now as a threat to what I hold most dear - my family, my children, and even the wolves. I will not allow his lust for power and control to overcome my, _our_, peaceful existence."

As I listened to Carlisle, I felt something inside me stir. His confidence was palpable, and with each sentence he said out loud, he radiated an inner strength. Although he tried to stop them, images of him with Aro, as they had been, friendly and cordial, were replaced by their last meeting, the one I had seen of everyone here, the battle line clearly visible, and Carlisle's attempt to discuss and persuade, only interrupted by images of people, vampires, kneeling at Aro's feet, torn limb from limb at Aro's command. Whatever was going to happen, whatever little old me had set into motion by a simple decision to visit an area of the country I'd never seen, Carlisle gave me the impression he was ready for it.

"But enough about that. Let's concentrate on you. Do you remember what caused the episode in the garage?"

I let go of my thoughts on the Volturi and sat back in the chair, curling my legs underneath and folding my arms around me. Carlisle's thoughts were once again hidden by a black screen. If what Carlisle implied was correct, if Aro and the Volturi decided to come after us all, only Alice would know how much time we all had, and then only _if_ she was able to see something. I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to Charlie, or any of them. If we only had days, minutes, hours, I needed to find a way. I needed to _be_ with Charlie, and it was up to me to figure out if I could be.

It was now or never.

"Carlisle, however long we have, I need to be with him again, to...to _show_ him. How do I keep the images of Damian from interfering when Charlie...when we..." I looked down in my lap, wrapping my arms tighter around me.

"Make love?"

I took a deep breath, and then let out a breath, because for some reason, it felt like I'd been holding it for an hour. "Yes," I said, finding the courage to look at him once again.

Carlisle let out a very deep sigh, all the while holding my gaze. "Only you can determine that, Catherine. Only you can find it within you to trust in your love for Charlie, and his for you, to change them, work past them. Make them disappear." With this, he sat forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped. "_Overcome_ them by replacing them with thoughts and actions of the love you and Charlie have for each other."

I let Carlisle's words sink in. I think I understood what he was trying to say, even as delicately and professionally as he was trying say it.

"So what you're saying, basically, is I need to...get back on the horse?"

Carlisle tried to hold in a laugh, but the smile at the corners of his mouth betrayed him. "Well, something like that, yes, but hopefully a little bit more sensitively than that."

I looked at him with part of a smile, and then back down at my hands.

"Charlie understands, Catherine. He knows what you're going through. He's a police officer - or was - has undoubtedly taken numerous training courses on the subject, and knows the signs and effects. But better than that, he's in love with you. He will do whatever you need, however you need it. Talk to him. Talk about what you're feeling and seeing. Get him to talk to you. Communication is also key here, not just the general act."

With the word _act_, I felt like would be blushing if I could, so I just nodded in reply. Carlisle had comforted me, strengthened me, even, but that still didn't mean I could look at him when he talked about Charlie's and my sex life. Vamps, or no vamps.

"Take your time out there, stay out as long as you need. We'll be here, _I'll_ be here if you need me, and we'll most likely only check up on you once in a while, to give you the privacy you need and still protect you both."

It was then that I heard Alice's voice. _"Just got the word in my head that you two are wrapping things up. We're on our way, just to let you know. We'll take a slow pace, don't worry."_

I could feel Alice's smile in my mind as she said those last words, until she disappeared from my head again. Undoubtedly, _she_ knew it was going to be okay. I needed to bank on that.

"Alice just told me they're on their way back," I said matter-of-factly. "She seemed...happy."

"Then perhaps that means you have even less to worry about." Carlisle smiled at me again, and this time, I answered with my own.

"Thank you, Carlisle. For this chat, for saving me, and Charlie. I'd be dead if it weren't for you, for _all_ of you. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Repayment is not necessary, Catherine. Being what we are is not easy, either, but you and Charlie are together, where _I_ believe you belong, and have been given a second chance. A little off the path that you both thought you'd be taking, but at least walking it together, right? I, myself, am rooting for the both of you." With this, he stood up, holding out his hand. "C'mon, we'll meet the others as they return."

I half-nodded, walking forward, offering another smile as I did, feeling stronger, more determined than ever.

I would not let Damian win. I was a competitive person by nature, and when I set my mind to something, I made the choices, did the things that made it happen.

No, I _would not_ let Damian win. Not now, not for however many days that Charlie and I had together. I wouldn't think about the future, the Volturi, nor anything that would get in the way of the time Charlie and I had.

_Never let me go._

Never, Chief.

**CharliePOV**

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102: II. Andante

Pretending to look over the directions to the tent that the good Doc had given us, I eyed Catherine as she sat with her phone, reading or just staring at it, I couldn't tell. Sometimes her thumb slid over the screen, but considering I barely knew how to find the music on the damn thing, I couldn't imagine what she was doing with it. I hadn't asked her what they had talked about, Carlisle and her, and I wasn't about to, because that was between the two of them. It didn't stop me from wondering, though. The fact that she was so quiet didn't help matters.

The run with Emmett to this spot had been fine until the point where he stopped suddenly and told us to run in the other direction. Catherine had seized up, and then I'd had caught the scent, too. Emmett grabbed both of us, pulling us away, until I put my arm around Catherine's waist and dragged her with me. I could feel her wanting to yank away, wanting to run back, nearly giving into it. It scared the livin' shit out of me, to feel that kind of energy from her, so I concentrated on giving off whatever was keeping me more in control than her, and ran like hell until the smell faded.

It had been human. And smelled _really_ good.

I wouldn't have known the feel of it, had it not been for our run in with Nessie. Pulling Catherine faster, I realized even though everyone else looked at the episode last night like some sort of near-catastrophe, I myself was sort of thankful for the whole fiasco. I could now recognize the smell of what I needed to avoid the most.

Because even though I'd felt that urge, my head still couldn't get used to the thought of actually chompin' on a human, even if it was some stranger, even if I was compelled by some...weird inner force. For over twenty years, I'd lived by the words that I'd sworn to with my hand over a bible all those years ago - to serve and protect. I just couldn't grasp that now, after all this time, I suddenly wanted to...suck dry and kill.

Emmett warned us as we started up the east side of the Olympic that we might come upon some more. We stayed on the east side, because it was dryer, but both he and I knew this was prime hiker season. As if reading my mind, he told us both it was a spot he and Rose often used to get away. I turned back just in time to see his face and the expression on it, which then caused me to think of Catherine. My head wrestled with the image of her naked on top of me, and Charlie Jr. decided to give a heads up, too. Not cool, but as I turned my back to Emmett, my eyes landed on Catherine's ass. Damn, I loved that woman's ass, even more so now as she climbed the steep path and cliffs in front of me with a strength and grace that turned me on even more.

Fuck. I looked around at the rock, the ground, the gray sky...anywhere but at her. Anywhere but at the round curves just a few feet in front of me that fit my hands...

FUCK. This wasn't going to be easy.

Emmett's call of "over there" saved me from the skin flick in my head, and both Catherine and I stopped to see the direction he was pointing, the spot he'd been heading toward, so we could zero in on it. The big guy had essentially stayed in the rear to keep an eye on us. Good thing, too. Without saying it, I knew he was worried about Catherine. I was, too. So I stayed as close to her as possible, without letting my eyes wander again or throwing her on my back for safe keeping. Something told me she wouldn't appreciate the gesture, even if I meant well.

Emmett had taken the gear from me before we'd even left the house. I almost laughed, considering the weight of all of it felt like holding a paper towel, but I had to admire the kid's respect for his elders, even though I knew he had a few decades on me. Catherine had been nearly out the back door when Alice had come up to her with her phone. I wondered if what Alice had seen earlier had something to do with the phone, but I didn't ask. She just handed it to Catherine, the two of them looking at each other for just a moment. But it was Alice's arms going around Catherine's shoulders in one of those Alice hugs, and then Catherine's hands, tentatively at first, but ultimately around Alice's waist that made me breathe a bit easier, so to speak.

We'd reached a nice-sized cliff, but it was more than that. With some green grass and some pretty big rocks thrown in, I could see why Emmett picked it. About the size of my front yard, it offered space, with plenty of cover and camouflage. The air was colder, much colder, but it wasn't even chilling these old bones. It was the damndest thing.

"I'll help you set up, Chief," Emmett said as he walked passed me, dropping the gear near the back, closest to the rest of the mountain.

"I've set up a few tents in my day, Emmett. I think we've got this."

As Emmett stood up to look at me, I looked back at Catherine and noticed her back to us both. She was standing near the edge, staring out. She'd been quiet since the near miss with the human, and even now, I wondered where her head was at, her arms folded across her middle. I turned back to Emmett who quickly glanced at her, then at me, and with a slight nod, told me he understood.

"Sure thing, Chief." He again looked at Catherine as he walked toward me. "Someone will come out to check on you both, but whoever it will be will let Catherine know they're coming."

With this, Catherine turned around. As she walked up to us both, her arms still around her, her eyes met mine, and then his, until she stopped in front of him. "Thanks, Emmett. For...this." As she said it, she looked out again, past me and over my left shoulder. "I've...never been up in a mountain like this. The view is...breathtaking." Lowering her head then, her shoe gliding over the grass, she let out a small laugh. "That is, if I were still breathing." Her laugh was halfass, but I knew Emmett didn't pick up on it.

"Not a problem. I'm glad you like the spot. It's our favorite, Rosie and me. Reception on your phone may be a bit spotty up here, but call if you need anything, 'kay?"

Before I could react, it looked like he was going to give her a hug, but we both saw her body stiffen. I could see how her reaction embarrassed her, and the look she gave me only proved it. For a brief moment, our eyes held, until she slowly walked a step closer to Emmett, her hand reaching out and hesitating, before giving him a couple of pats on his chest and looking up into his face.

"I will. _We_ will." It was all of a second, if that, until she backed away from him and closer to me. My arm went around her, pulling her in, and feeling that same nervousness and fear that I'd felt before. I knew Emmett knew, as he glanced down at my arm, and then back at me, before starting to walk back to the edge.

"Okay, well, I'll just...go now. Don't worry, you'll be fine up here. Just..." He stopped to look away, before turning back to us one last time. "Well, you know..." He trailed off and disappeared with a wave down the way we had come.

As soon as he did, Catherine pulled away from me and knelt down by the gear, checking out the tent bag and the other duffle that Emmett had been carrying.

"Charlie, just so we're clear, I haven't a clue about camping. I've set up a tent once in my life, and that was in my friend's backyard with her Dad's help." She let go of the tent bag, sitting back on her heels.

"It just so happens, I've done it at least a hundred times." I walked over to her and the tent bag, picking it up to move it a little farther in. "I'll do the tent; you..."

"I'll just sit over here like the damsel in distress." I caught her grin as she stood up and walked over to a rock, taking her phone out of her back pocket.

"Right." She was going to make me regret that until...well, whenever.

Now, watching her out of the corner of my eye, I once again pretended to read the directions. I could have this thing up in ten seconds, but I could tell from her body language, and the few times she looked up from her phone, that she was stewing about something. I didn't know what exactly, but all I could guess was that it had to do with us. Up here. Alone.

And her talk with Carlisle.

_Please, God, I don't ask for much - lately nothing at all. Just please let it have gone well._

I found myself taking a deep breath, and then letting it out in one big whoosh of frustration. The man in me wanted to get this tent set up, get her in it, get naked, and bury myself inside her - feel her skin against mine, lick and taste and...hear all of the sighs and sounds that she made as I did. I wanted to connect, again - like we did that first night. I wanted to be with her, really _be_ with her, and erase any and all memory of that sick fuck from her mind. But the cop in me? Yeah. He knew finding the woman he'd known if only for a short time and helping her would be similar to the uphill climb we'd just taken, except it would be as if we were human doing it.

I stared back at her across the space between us, and suddenly saw a vision of her naked and spread on the rock she was sitting on, her hands in my hair, my hands on the inside of her thighs, my tongue... As if suddenly feeling a twinge, my hand rubbed the back of my neck.

_Get a fucking grip, Swan!_

But there was no twinge. It just helped me think, or rather _not_ think of where my head had just gone. I lifted the directions in my hand back up towards my face, knowing full well I had to be the cop, before I could ever be the man.

Because _we both_ loved her.

This woman, whose life had completely changed, had been torn apart. Literally. A woman who'd damn near died, _did_ die, just because her car _happened_ to break down on the side of the road, and the cop that stopped to help her just _happened_ to have a connection to vampires he didn't even know about at the time.

Whoever said life wasn't fair had to have known her story.

But I had to find a way. No matter how she needed me, or what I needed to do, or how long it took me, because for every minute of every day going forward, I would hear her voice, hear those words that she had said right before...

_As long as you don't kill him._

She had been willing to give in...to..._that_...in order to save me.

I sorta wished that _I_ had talked to Carlisle.

I looked one last time at the directions in my hands. This would take me five minutes, tops, but I didn't think much of it when I just threw them to the ground and glanced at he,r and then out over the view that stretched all around us. For the first time since turning, and probably only because it was the first chance I'd really had, I thought about what I was, what we were, and what I had done. Was I a completely selfish ass for thinking it's what she would've wanted when I had to make the choice for her? Did she really want to be with me forever? Or at least...at least as long as we had? Or had I just doomed her to something she would never be truly happy in? Would I be...enough for her? Could I be?

I took a deep breath in, smelling all the smells, smelling _her_.

Had I just repeated every mistake I'd ever made with Renee?

The place that Emmett had led us was further from the house than the one he and I had perched only a few days ago, and not one I had been to, even as a human. Cloud patches hung here and there, but the view was as Catherine had said. Breathtaking.

But not as beautiful as the sight of her, alive - well sort of - that beautiful ass perched on a rock just feet from me.

_With_ me.

"You sure you don't want some help? I know I don't have your kind of experience, but the female in me says I bet I could make better use of those directions than you."

She didn't turn, she didn't even look up from her phone when she said it, but for some strange reason, her smart ass comment made me grin, and took with it my doubt. She'd had the chance to run, including when I'd been out of it, and she had stayed. For the next few days, or however long we had, I was going all in holding a pair of queens, with the hope of helping the queen of hearts. _My_ heart.

_Man, that was damn poetic. Someday I'll tell her I actually thought of that. She'll never believe it._

"I can handle it. Besides, what do we need a tent for?" I looked back at her still staring at the damn phone screen. "It's not like we're gonna get cold." I mumbled the last part, knowing full well she could hear me. I tried to pretend like I didn't give a shit, hunching down to get the directions, only slightly phased by the fact that my knees were not complaining with the bending. With everything that had happened, I'd barely taken notice of some of the little things, mostly of how my body felt like I was twenty-five again.

"The Sox are on a tear. Eight-game winning streak," she casually said, as her thumb continued to move.

"Oh yeah? How about my Mariners?" I already knew the answer.

She laid back, her body stretching as one arm went behind her head. I couldn't help but to stare at her again. She still had on Jasper's black Zeppelin t-shirt, and my eyes went from the patch of skin that peeked out at her side, up to her breasts, remembering, hoping, wishing...

"Looks like their losing streak is just as long."

Rubbing my eyes with the back of hand, I tried to remember what we were talking about. "Season's only half over. Plenty of time." I dared to look back at her, and she was sitting up again. Even Charlie, Jr. uttered a thanks.

"That's what most Cub fans are saying right now, too." I noticed her stop with the phone and look up and out, but it was that faraway kind of look.

Stuck between asking her what she was thinking, and _not_ asking, I chose the not asking, and grabbed the bag with the tent and started taking out the rods and stakes, laying everything out to get a better idea of what I was dealing with. It was just big enough for the two of us and to keep out the rain, but small enough and gray, where it wouldn't be spotted by nosey hikers with binoculars. Hopefully. Although, we'd probably smell them before they even got near.

Yeah, I wasn't going to think about that right now.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah." Something about the way she said my name made me start to concentrate more on getting the tent set up.

"Have you thought about...about not being able to go to a baseball game again?"

I took one of the fiberglass rods and started fitting it into the slats. I could tell she was now looking at me. "I can't say it's crossed my mind in the past few days, no." I took another rod. "The way I figure it, if the Cullens have been able to learn how to fit in, I don't see why we couldn't figure out how to go to a game."

"Do they ever go to games?"

I grabbed the stakes, looking for a mallet, and realized I didn't need one to get them into the ground. "I don't know."

"Oh."

Attaching the rods to the stakes and then pressing the stakes into the ground, each corner of the tent went up as I walked around it. Once it was standing, I stopped to admire it, and then realized Catherine had stopped talking, so I peeked around the edge and found her with her face in her hands.

Running to her, I dropped on my knees, my hands covering hers, pulling back to see her face, and I knew immediately where her head was. "Hey, now. We'll go to a game. Don't worry. We can get one of those glass-enclosed boxes or something."

She didn't say a word, but she pulled her hand from mine to run hers over my cheek, back into my hair, and then down to stop on my chest. "Yes, we will. Because I know that if you're there with me, it will be fine. Everything will be fine."

I took her hand and rubbed it between the two of mine, and then held it still. "Yep. Because sooner or later, you and I are going to figure all this shit out. Hell, if Carlisle can be a doctor..."

"It took him years, decades even, to get where he is now." Her eyes questioned me, and then she dropped her chin, slowly shaking her head. "We may not...we may not have that kind of time, Charlie."

With that, I stood up, pulling her into my arms. I could feel something, and yeah, it felt a lot like uncertainty, and I couldn't blame her for feeling it. All the talk of the Volturi, this Aro guy, everything that we had heard had me thinking twice about just how long this vamp life would be. I held her closer, trying to soothe her fears, my hand running over her back. But there was something else she was giving off. I couldn't describe it, but it was a lot different than anything she'd given off before.

"Let's both try not to think about it. At least for the next couple of days." Yeah, easier said than done, but for the moment, it was all I could think to tell her.

"Okay." She nodded, her arms squeezing tighter around my waist. "I will, if you will." Her lips moved against my chest, until she looked up at me, and I noticed her eyes were glossy, wet almost. If I hadn't known better, I would've said it looked like tears, and even though I knew they weren't, the effect on my insides was the same.

So I leaned in to kiss her lips with as much reassurance I could give her. "Deal."

With that, she gave me that smile, the one that I'd seen in the gazebo, the one that... and BAM, it was like a rush of something came into me from her, and it was an incredible surge of something positive, something...damn, I still couldn't figure it out. But it was good, whatever it was, and it went to my toes.

"Wow," I muttered.

"What?" She still grinned up at me.

"Yeah, uh, just..." It dawned on me that what I just felt might be like what a defibrillator felt like. Shock to the system. Yeah. My fingertips actually felt tingly.

_Never thought I'd say that word. Tingly. Hmm._

"Oh, nothin'. It's just..." I pulled on her bottom lip with my thumb. "It's just nice to see that smile." I couldn't help but give her one of my own. "Say, wanna look in that other bag and see what's in there?" I only suggested it because what I really wanted to do wasn't an option, and I _was_ suddenly curious about what Esme had put in it.

She gave me the eye for a split second, like I'd grown a third one in the middle of my forehead, and then let out a little laugh, leaving my arms. I watched her as she walked over to it, only looking back at me once, giving me the _What the fuck is up with you _look, and then kneeling down to unzip it. I couldn't help but hold in a laugh, but I made some weird ass sound, anyway.

"I heard that," she said with her back to me. "Looks like some clothes for me..."-she ruffled through it-"you..."-she took something out, something that looked like a small radio. "I think..." She took her phone and fitted it into a slot on the top. "I think this is a charger of some sort. No wait..." She flipped a button on it, did something with the screen on her phone, and suddenly, there was music.

She quickly turned down the volume. "It's a radio with a charging mechanism for the phone, although I don't think we can headbang to Guns and Roses out here, unless you want to draw some attention." She turned around as she said it and let out a giggle.

No, I'd much rather other types of noise, perhaps even louder...

_Damn! _I really had to stop going there.

But she had laughed...giggled...

It was the greatest sound since...I'd seen G&R live. No, better than that.

"Doesn't mean we can't listen to 'em. Just turn the volume down real low, and then let me see you thrash that hair." I laughed then, too, at myself, how ridiculous we sounded, and just how good it was to see her this way. The old Catherine.

I came up next to her and kneeled down, looking at it, and then her. She had turned off whatever song had been playing, one I didn't recognize.

"Uh, may I?" On the off chance she had G&R, I wondered if she had something else. Something that had just come into my head.

"Sure. You know how to work it?" she questioned me, giving me a look, and then her expression changed. "You do! I...I remember. You played music while I was..." I just nodded, finding what I was looking for.

I turned it on, setting down the contraption, and offered her my hand as I stood up. "So, care to dance?" Her face lit up, and she put her hand in mine, recognizing the tune, but this time, all _she_ could do was nod.

I tugged her up gently into my arms. To Bon Jovi's "Bed of Roses," she relaxed against me, and I felt it again - whatever that feeling was that she was giving me. I didn't care what it was; all I knew was that it was better than anything I'd felt from her since that first time, and things were looking up. Many...things.

* * *

A/N: *sighs* Ok! Ok! I had to give them just a wee bit of happy times! I mean, all they've been through, all they have to overcome still, a simple romantic gesture by our favorite charming cop? Be still my heart.

Oh, and it had to be Bon Jovi. I mean, really. Can't you see Charlie with a mullet back in the late 80s/early 90s? Yes? Heeeeee!

Again, as always, thanks so much for reading, and waiting, and waiting, and...waiting. Lol! Thanks too, if you decide to review.


	30. Chapter 30

Real quick: Thank you to all of you, for sticking with this fic and for your lovely and insightful reviews. They really do keep me going.

Note: The music for this chapter is once again in two parts. For each POV, you'll want to loop the song because they give completely different vibes to each scene.

Finally ,big hugs and smoochies to my amazing Pufferfish, Hammerhips, for pulling me up by my bootstraps far too often lately, and my wonderful beta on Twi, Jenny Cullen, who may well up and retire before this thing is ever finished. Mwah! ;)

Soooo, a little bit of angst, a little bit of uh-oh, and a little bit of aaaah. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**BellaPOV **- Finzi, Prelude for String Orchestra, Op. 25

Edward glanced out the window for the twenty-fifth time.

"Why do you keep doing that? You'll know when they're both close," I said from my corner of the couch. For the last two hours, he'd been at the window, seated in this chair, at the window, standing briefly in front of the fireplace, or back at the window. Even though I couldn't get headaches, I felt on the verge of one.

Edward had called Jacob when we'd reached the house, the sun just beginning to rise in the east. Jake said he'd do what he could to get Renesmee to come home. Again, strangely enough, he had agreed with Edward that she should talk with us, but from what I overheard of the conversation, his voice still had an edge to it when he spoke - an edge that undoubtedly was coming from the night before and Edward's reaction to Renesmee's decision to sneak back to the house. I let out a breath, letting the fear of the memory escape with it.

"It's not that. Emmett, Catherine, and Charlie left the house a while ago. I was just making sure everything was all right," he said, without turning back to me.

As Edward and I left the Cullen house, we weren't even halfway when I could tell Edward had heard something, even though my mind had been rehashing the last few hours and everything that had happened. The slight tilt or lowering of his head was always a sure sign. I didn't throw my shield, figuring he would tell me if need be, and because that he hadn't shown any sign of something wrong. As we slowed to an almost-human walk, he took my hand and came to a sudden stop, concentrating on whatever he was picking up. After a few moments, he lifted his head, his eyes darting about, until he tugged at my hand. We started to run again, Edward explaining when we reached our home that he had heard Catherine, her inner turmoil, and that he'd encouraged her to have a conversation with Carlisle.

"Is it? Is Catherine...?" I let the words trail off, and Edward didn't immediately answer.

"From what I can tell, her talk with Carlisle went well."

I didn't ask anymore, relaxing just a little in that Catherine had finally gone to Carlisle.

"No, I didn't hear it. I just heard them now, all of them, as they left. She seemed better, and Emmett thought so, too." He glanced back at me. "She's a fighter." The seriousness of his expression didn't keep me from saying what was in my head.

"Must be the O'Hara in her," I matter-of-factly said, meeting his gaze.

"Mmm," he muttered, as he glanced once more out the window, and then turned back to join me on the couch.

"I'll be honest with you, Bella. I have absolutely no idea what to say to our daughter right now, or to Jacob. I'm actually surprised she even agreed to come home." Nearly slumping down next to me, he leaned his head back, running his fingers along his forehead, as if he too felt a headache coming on.

Sitting up from my corner, I couldn't help but snuggle in next to him, draping one arm over his stomach and laying my head on his chest, as one of his hands that had been rubbing his head came around my back.

"I think we should follow her lead." I lightly patted his stomach to emphasize the point.

"Follow her lead?" I could feel his confused glance down at me without even looking up.

"Yes. She's going to be eighteen in less than a month, Edward. Have you thought about that?"

"Every damn day." It was only the second time I'd ever heard him curse.

"Edward..." I raised my head, seeing the frustration in his face he wasn't trying to hide, running my hand over the smooth cotton of his blue button-down, "what she did yesterday was reckless, yes, but we've gone over this again and again. We can't keep doing this. She really has no concept of what could've happened, because we've never really talked with her about newborns. We've never really_ had_ to. We've only ever really told her what _not_ to do, and with humans, mostly. The fact that she told us she's already come into contact with them and _hasn't_ attacked them makes me think she's right when she says she has some of my control."

"Perhaps, but just because _she_ has control does not mean she should just make a surprise visit home, not knowing who was there, not knowing we _weren't_ there, not knowing how Charlie and Catherine would react-"

"Yes, but in three weeks, it won't be up to us."

Edward's deep inhale and exhale pierced the silence between us, as I laid my head back down on his chest.

"Bella, I'm just trying to make sure she _makes_ it to her eighteenth birthday."

I knew Edward was talking about yesterday, but something infinitely more terrifying crept into my head. "If the Volturi..."

"Don't say it. Jacob will take her away, just like he did before."

"We can't ask him to do that, Edward. He's the Alpha. He'll fight us to be here."

"Will he?"

The way Edward said it, I knew he thought otherwise. The more I thought about it, the more I thought he might be right. Jacob had tried to explain it to me before. If Renesmee was the center of his universe, then he would choose her safety over others - over his own. The question remained, however, whether or not she would listen to Jake any better than she listened to us.

"They're coming," Edward suddenly said. "Bella, look."

The instant I threw my shield over Edward, I could see her, or at least what she was thinking. There was guilt, mixed with an effort to focus. She kept telling herself to be strong, to not back down, but then fragments, images of her childhood, of her looking at me or Edward, or the three of us together. They were happy moments, carefree and full of love. I felt my heart want to explode, or come back to life with them.

Until they were replaced with her vantage point of last night, of the fear that had gripped her, the shame turning to anger that had welled up inside her as Edward yelled at her, and her resolve to defy.

_"Oh..."_

Suddenly, it was Jacob, and he was replaying what looked to be a conversation with Renesmee - no, more like an argument.

"Ness, how many times do I have to say it, to show you, to prove it to you? I'm not on their side. I'm on _your_ side - _our_ side. Geez! Do you realize what could've happened to you?"

"Yes! For Pete's sake, Jake, I get it."

It was all Jacob gave, until I saw through his eyes, Renesmee's hand in his and the side of her face as he looked at her. He was as determined as she was, and even more so as an image of her face came back into his head - one from the past. He was looking up at her, smiling. As she nodded back at him, he looked back down at her hand clasped in his, as his other hand slid a ring on her finger...

"Oh my!...Edward!...Did you...he..." The full sentences were flying through my head, but I heard myself saying only bits and pieces as I retracted my shield, not wanting to intrude anymore.

"This is one time I really don't want to see anymore," Edward huffed as he sat up slightly, moving me with him, and then away as he stood up and made his way over to our bookshelf, his palms pressing against it, as if for support. "It seems we'll be getting some news when they get here."

Had Jacob asked her to marry him? The vision, as it were, gave only the very end of what looked like a proposal. Maybe it was just a...a promise ring, or...No. I felt it. I knew it wasn't just _that_. What Edward and I had just seen was not some casual gesture. Call it intuition, call it whatever you want. Jake had undoubtedly been down on one knee, and even from my vantage point, _his_ vantage point, I knew it.

This impending discussion Edward and I were about to have with both of them just became much more.

"I regret being the way I was last night, Bella."

I glanced up, my train of thoughts interrupted by Edward's admission. "I know you do, Edward. I'm sure she does, too, in a way," I assured him, hoping that I was right.

"I shouldn't have raised my voice. I shouldn't have lost control like that...I-I should've borrowed one of Carlisle's Child Psychology books."

The words came out as he paced from the fireplace to the entryway. To any human eye, it would've been more like him flashing back and forth. In the years now that we'd been together, I had never seen him this way, so at odds, so torn...until I wondered if this is what he'd been like about me. I thought about the rest of the Cullens, and that fateful day when Edward had returned home from school after our first Biology class. They'd told me the story, each of them giving me bits and pieces of what Edward had been like that day, his decision to leave, until finally Edward had filled me in on his viewpoint of that day, and on many occasions after that, when it came to me. Even when he left me in the woods, thinking I would be better for it.

I stood up and went to him, taking his hands in mine, forcing him to turn and look at me. I had to be the stronger one here. I had to make Edward understand, somehow.

"Edward, years ago, you tried to make a decision for me. You left me, thinking it would be better for me, when you should have let me make that decision for myself-"

"Bella..."

"Look how that turned out. I had to rush to Volterra to save you." I slyly smirked up at him. Edward's hands squeezing mine, and then his gentle pull of me into his arms, told me all I needed to know about what he was thinking.

"That was different."

"Is it?" I leaned back from his embrace, tilting my head to stare my husband down as his eyes met mine, attempting to hide the frustration, but I knew him too well.

"But she's just a-"

"She's the same age I was, Edward." As his eyes roamed over my forehead, my face, his palm came up to the side of my cheek, his eyes coming back to mine.

"And just as stubborn as you were. Correction, _are_."

He leaned in slowly, and I stood up on my toes as our lips met in a lingering, reassuring kiss. His hand slid from my face, into my hair, stopping at the base of my neck. Seconds seemed like eternity as I saw our lives since that fateful Biology class, and all that we had been through, flash in my head, and I was pretty certain in his eyes, too.

He leaned down again, his forehead pressed to mine. "I think I now know what your father felt like."

I smiled at that, my eyes still closed, and then laughed. "Yeah, but he didn't know you were a vampire at the time. Can you imagine?"

With that, he lifted his head from mine, and I opened my eyes to him grinning down to me, until it slowly started to fade.

"Yes. Probably very similar to the feeling I have right now of my daughter and a wolf."

"Edward, please."

We both looked toward the window, hearing their voices, and knew they were close.

"Please just stay calm," I whispered.

"_Bella_." Edward's lips formed my name just as Renesmee walked in the door, followed by Jacob.

I pulled slightly back from Edward, his arm still around my waist. Renesmee walked in first, followed by Jacob, who immediately shut the door behind him. I didn't need to study my daughter, whose hands were in her jeans' pockets, her eyes concentrating hard on the floor, to know that she was anxious.

"Mornin', folks." Jacob eyed me, then Edward, and then snuck a sideways glance at Renesmee. "So, we're here. Let's get this over with."

With that, Renesmee beelined over to the couch, Jacob following.

I took one glance at Edward as I made my way to one chair, Edward to his. I didn't like being separated from him for this conversation, but both of us standing would give the wrong impression. I didn't want to tower over my daughter, and I didn't want her father to, either. I caught Edward's expression as he sat down, his face revealing nothing of what he must be hearing. The tension was thick, as I watched Renesmee wrangle her hands in her lap. I felt I should start, say something, anything, but before I could, Renesmee took a long, deep breath.

"Mom, Dad, first of all, I want to apologize for last night. I do realize now how dangerous it was for me to come to the house." As she spoke, she reached for Jacob's hand, and I could see her squeeze it as she continued.

"Dad, I know you were upset. I was, too. I'm sorry for the way I acted toward you. And Mom, I'm sorry for scaring you." She pulled Jacob's hand onto her lap. "But I think we need to talk about things - how things are, how things will be."

"How things will _be_?" Edward finally spoke, and I whipped my head to give him a look to stop him dead in his tracks. He received the message loud and clear. "Your mother and I are sorry as well, Ness, but please do go on."

I took some heart in the fact that Edward had not called her Renesmee.

"Okay." She looked from him, and then to me. "I don't want it to be this way. I don't want to fight with you, but I also don't want to be on the outside looking in, anymore. Whatever is affecting this family is affecting me, too, and Jake. Something is going on, besides Catherine and Grandpa."

She paused for a minute, as if giving Jake a vision of what she was thinking, and by default, Edward, as well. I knew he'd seen it, because he noticeably stiffened in his chair - although most likely only noticeable to me.

"I'm not stupid, although I have been acting it lately, and both Jake and I know there is more going on than what you're telling us-"

"Nessie, I can speak for myself," Jacob admonished, tugging at her hand, but his eyes went to Edward's across the room. "I know you all have had a lot to deal with in the past few weeks. The Elders and the pack are okay with Charlie's decision after I explained it to them, although my Dad is still a little mad. He's come to his senses - well, sort of - since my first talk with them, but there are two new wolves already." Jacob stopped, glancing at me, and then back at Edward. "There's also talk about what actually happened to Catherine, about what provoked it. I know there's more to this than just two newborns up at the Cullen house."

Edward folded his hands in his lap, crossing one leg over the other, and for a moment, I was struck by his resemblance to Carlisle. "They're not at the house. They're up in the mountains. They needed time alone."

"Alone? _Alone_? Why didn't someone tell us, why didn't-"

"Carlisle was calling Sam upon their leaving. He knew you both had enough to handle today, hoping that you would both be coming to talk to us. He didn't want you sidetracked with worrying about them - and don't. We have it covered. They're being monitored, albeit from a distance. Charlie is very much like Bella, with his control, and he can temper Catherine with an ability he has."

"What do you mean, Dad?" Renesmee finally looked up from where she had been staring at her hand in Jacob's.

"He can calm her with a touch. It becomes more pronounced the closer she is to him, and they can feel each other's emotions. Bella's felt them from him, too. Catherine can also read minds, just like I can - most likely because we're related. Although when she's being held by Charlie, the thoughts of those around her are blocked, as well as her thoughts to me. Charlie's ability is similar to your mother's in that, although it seems he needs to be touching the person."

"Mom, you said they were related, but you never said anything about their gifts."

"Well...we've had a lot going on the past few days. I'm sorry, Renesmee, for not calling you and telling you more. It just seems every time things were starting to calm down, something else would happen. The night that you came to the house, we..." I stopped and felt Edward's head turn to face me. I looked over at him, questioning. _Do we tell them now?_

I didn't have to decide, as Edward gazed at me as he spoke. "Nessie, we had to make sure that Catherine and Charlie were okay. There was much to work through with Catherine and what happened to her, and _why_ it happened." Edward's eyes left mine to look across the room at his daughter. "Do you understand? She was...it wasn't just a vampire trying to..." Edward stopped, bringing his hand to his chin, and then his index finger across his mouth as if debating what he would say next.

"She was brutally attacked." He brought his hand down to the armrest of his chair, his fingers digging in to the tuft underneath it, just shy of ripping a hole.

Jacob's hunching shoulders and audible sigh spoke volumes, and I could tell he had already divulged something to her.

"I told her," he admitted, turning his head toward her, and then back at Edward. "She knows."

"I know she does." Edward voice was low, his eyes intent on Renesmee.

I looked from Edward to Renesmee, and then back to Edward. "But who told-"

"Alice," Jacob and Edward said together.

"The night she came to see Ness, she told me everything that was going on. I've only told Nessie about Catherine so far, figurin' you wanted to be the ones to tell her everything else."

Renesmee's turn toward Jacob was quick, and I knew he was telling the truth.

"What do you mean? There's more?" Her glance at Edward, then at me, said it all. It was now or never. My daughter needed to know.

_"Should it be you or me?"_ I thought to Edward, after throwing my shield over him.

_"I'll do it. She should hear this from me."_

Even amidst his words, I could see Jacob talking to Alice, which quickly changed to Renesmee thoughts. _"I can't believe there's more. What more could possibly happen to us?"_

I withdrew my shield, not wanting to see any more.

"Nessie, Jacob, before I begin, try to understand...even we weren't sure about this until the other night, when you came to the house, Nessie. Your mother and I, Jasper and Alice...we found his hotel room and were looking for clues when Emmett called to say you were on your way back to the house." Edward paused, straightening his legs as he sat up to lean his elbows on his knees. "There is _much_ more, and you need to hear it. From us. What happened to Catherine was not some random vampire attack."

"Tell me, Dad." The calm tone of Renesmee's voice surprised even me.

So Edward began, telling all that we knew, even detailing what we had found in Damian's hotel room. Part of me was frantic during the telling, watching my daughter inch closer to Jake with every revelation, until Jacob's arms were around her, her body visibly shaking, a tear slowly making its way down her flushed cheek.

"Oh, Mom!"

Suddenly, Renesmee flew off the couch and landed in my lap, my arms instantly around her, holding her just shy of too tight, rocking us both. I knew that if I could, I would be crying right along with her, my precious baby, my girl. I had wanted her to come to me like this that day not so long ago; the day that I felt we'd lost her. But now, in the midst of this, a possible visit from the Volturi like the one she only partially remembered - or tried to forget, I didn't know which - had brought her to my lap in search of comfort, just like when she was a child. I didn't want it this way. I didn't want any of this.

Her palm came to my cheek, and my sharp intake of breath was the least amount of sound I could make. There I was, as she saw me in the clearing that day, my hands loosening her arms from my neck.

_"You remember what I told you?"_ I saw my own face, my own lips move, heard my own voice, and all the fear she had at that moment pierced through me.

_"I love you,"_ I heard her whisper back to me.

_"I love you, too,"_ I saw myself say, reaching out to touch her, and I remembered the locket around her neck._ "More than my own life."_

"Oh, _Renesmee_," I choked out, not able to cry with her.

My fingers slowly went through her curls, trying to take the memory away. Her language had been so limited at the time, but it was enough; it had been enough. But of all the things that she could remember now, it was the one moment that somewhere inside me I had hoped she forgotten. The one moment that I truly thought I'd never see again, least of all from her perspective.

"Sweetpea. Don't," I whispered softly into her ear as her palm left my cheek and went back up around my shoulder, her face burrowing once again into my neck.

Her tears fell harder, dampening the fabric beneath her cheek and against my skin, as she tried to hide her soft sobs and hiccups of breath. For a moment, she seemed much younger than a seventeen-year-old in my arms.

She had tried so hard to be strong when they'd arrived - both her and Jake - but this new information had sent her back there. Had she always remembered? Had she chosen to lock it away until now, until the thought of them coming brought it all back? I tried to remember a time, a glimpse, anything that Edward might have given away. I could remember nothing.

My hand slowly caressed her back, trying harder to take away her fear, as any mother would hope to with their child crying in their arms. Even weeks away from eighteen, she was my _only_ child, and now, just like back then, I would give my life, my existence, to save hers. I had tried in the eight or so years that she had lived to do everything I could for her, everything _right_ for her, everything that my Mom hadn't for me. Even if she was only weeks from officially being an adult, she would always be my miracle baby. I had to be strong again, just I had been back then. Not just for her, not just for Edward.

For all of us.

"You think they're coming back," Jacob suddenly stated, glancing from me and Renesmee, back to Edward. "To finish the job."

I caught Edward's nod from the corner of my eye.

"Then I need to tell the pack. We need to prepare. We need to get Catherine and Charlie...I need to...Nessie...out..." Jacob's hesitations only showed how quickly he was processing, and not nearly fast enough for his mouth to form the words.

"Jacob, I know. We know. But Alice hasn't seen anything of their coming as of yet. We're running on pure conjecture, although Jasper and Carlisle are of the belief that they will return, as am I. Alice is doing everything she can, and will be, to give us something, anything, of what their plans might be. Until then, we simply don't know."

"But Edward, this won't be like the last time."

"You're right, Jake." Renesmee suddenly lifted her head from my shoulder, looking at Jacob first, and then over at her father, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. "Because we'll be here, with all of you. I will stay and fight alongside all of you. Uncle Jasper can teach me."

Jacob jumped up from the couch. "Like hell you will be. I'll take you myself, again, just like-"

"Jake," Renesmee said, as she kissed my cheek and slid from my lap.

My surprise overtook Jacob's outburst just a minute before. I watched her as she walked to the couch, and realized this was the determination, or maybe stubbornness, that I had seen in her on the walk over. For a moment, my fear was squelched by a small amount of motherly pride. In that instant, I realized she was very much a woman, and a child no longer. As she reached the couch, she took Jacob's hand and pulled him down to sit next to her. I was, in this moment, literally in awe of my daughter - the change in her in the last few seconds, in the past eighteen hours, the past few weeks.

"Your place is here, too. With your family, your pack, your tribe. I can't be the reason you leave them to defend your land and my family once again."

Jacob's hand flew to her cheek, his thumb wiping away her tears. "I won't let you fight. I'll chain you up with Emily if I have to, but you _won't_ be out there with the rest of us. You aren't strong enough, or fast enough."

"Jacob Black, you can_not_ tell me what to do - imprint nor ring." Renesmee gasped at her slip as Jake's eyes flew from hers to Edward's.

"Edward, I wanted to ask-"

"As well you should have, pup. A little late, don't you think, considering my daughter already has the ring?"

"Dad-"

"I just wanted to-"

"Oh, I'm well _aware_ of what you want to-"

"Edward! Jacob! Just...stop!" I yelled, jumping to my feet and into the middle of the room between them, resting my glare on Edward first, shaking my head. "You were doing so well."

I whipped my head around, transferring my glare to Jacob. "Jake, yes, it would have been a good idea to ask Renesmee's medieval father permission first,"-I turned back to Edward-"but might I remind you,_ dearest_ husband, that once upon a time, a long time ago, you yourself gave me a ring - an engagement ring - before _ever _speaking to Charlie." I continued to stare at Edward, his eyes rising slowly from his lap to meet mine.

"Touché, _dearest_ wife."

The smirk he tried to hide by his tongue darting out to lick his lips made me nearly return it. As the memories came back of that night, though, of my rather..._overzealousness_, my stance began to relax, and I couldn't help but start to grin. Edward knew exactly what I was thinking, and his attempt at a straight face began to fail, his smirk becoming evident and meeting my own.

Edward peeked around me. "So, Jacob, shall we discuss her dowry?"

"Her _what_?"

"Dad!"

With Jacob's confused expression, and Renesmee's exasperation, I held in my laugh as I went back to my chair and played along. "Renesmee, darling, I'm sure you've started to discuss the prenup?"

As I sat, I caught Renesmee's head dropping into her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. I glanced over at Edward, who had reigned in his smirk and was now again sitting quite stoically. He was actually enjoying this.

"Well, aren't you going to show your mother the ring?" Edward asked, still looking at me, beginning to smile, until Renesmee's squeal rang through the house, and we both began to laugh.

I turned just in time to see her run from the couch, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks, to drop at me feet, pulling something from her pocket, sliding it on her finger, and jutting her hand out in front of me with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen on her face. It was a single round diamond - a solitaire. I didn't know enough about jewelry or diamonds to say it was too big or too small, but on her long, slender finger, it looked the perfect size.

"It was my mother's." Jacob finally found the wits to speak, and my head popped up to look at him over Renesmee's head.

I only allowed myself a quick glance, but it was long enough for the thought to run through my mind that if things had been different, oh so very different, this ring could have been on my finger. I pushed away the thought as fast as it came, as I realized my daughter was waiting for me to say something.

"It's beautiful, Renesmee. Perfect." I answered her still wide smile with one of my own, as her arms flew up to hug me.

"Edward, Bella, I wanted her to have it. Now," Jacob said, as Renesmee went to Edward, holding out her hand for him to see. "Something to hold on to. Something to..." Jacob stopped, and Renesmee's head turned back to look at him. "Something solid to represent what she means to me. I promised to take care of her once before. I'll keep on doing that, because..."

Renesmee's whole body suddenly shifted to face Jacob, my eyes going from him to her, and back to him, and I found myself holding my breath, even though it meant nothing. They stared at each other across the room. The five or so seconds that Jake's hesitation lasted felt like hours, his intended words drifting, hanging, unspoken but deafening.

"I love her," he stated calmly, firmly, and with such conviction, my hand went to the base of my neck, rubbing, gripping my skin, and then letting it go.

"We want to get married," Renesmee said, as she rejoined Jacob on the couch, "here. On a piece of land where the Quileute and Cullen borders meet. It's a spot we found long ago." She turned to look at Jacob. "It's special to us, just large enough for everyone to gather in, and we want Mr. Black to do the ceremony."

Renesmee's eyes left Jacob's and looked at me, and then Edward. "But not now. Not until Grandpa and Catherine can come, and not until..." She looked down at her hand, the light reflecting off the precious stone as she slightly shifted her hand. "Not until this is all over."

"But Renesmee, I thought we weren't-"

"No, Jake. This is no time for a wedding. There's enough to do, to plan, to worry about. I won't make everyone concentrate on a wedding, when there are more important things to think about." She suddenly stood up and ran into the kitchen and out the back door. I didn't need to see the tears to know they were falling again.

"Ness!" Jake shouted, running after her.

I turned to Edward as his elbow bent on the armrest, his hand once again rubbing his forehead. I went to get up, to go to her.

"Let her be, Bella. Let _them_ be."

I stared at Edward, my hands clutching the armrests, frozen in a state of suspension, until Edward's words sunk in, and I slid back into my seat.

The minutes passed by as we both sat silently. While my emotions swung from worry, to happiness, to anger, grief, purpose, and then back to worry, my mind spun with thoughts of what had just happened, that my daughter was engaged to Jacob, that the Volturi would come, that I may never see her as a bride.

Until I said out loud the last thought to come to mind.

"Wait 'til Alice finds out."

-o-O-o-O-o-

**CathPOV **- Rachmaninoff, Prelude in D, Op. 23, No. 4

Charlie and I lay on the grass just in front of the tent, my tunes still playing in the background. He had one arm behind his head, and the other around me, my head resting on his chest snuggled in next to him. It was the calmest and most content either of us had been since being human, and I think we both were lost somewhere in the moment. Our ability to feel what the other was feeling, and to give what the other needed, was becoming not just like a regular old blanket, but more like being under a warm down comforter on a cold, crisp, winter morning.

Thinking back to earlier, when he'd asked me to dance, offering his hand to _Bed of Roses_, I didn't know what to say, and I tried to hold in a laugh, realizing what it was. An interesting choice by my Chief. I didn't take him for a Bon Jovi fan, and I stifled a giggle against his chest, thinking of it once again.

My Chief was full of surprises.

I closed my eyes, taking in the smell of him, and smiled, thinking about being in his arms, slowing swaying, relaxing for the first time in weeks.

_Relaxing._

It was, without a doubt, the best feeling I'd had in days. All but that one, the first one, when he'd run after me, pulled me into his arms, sent me the most amazing amount of wow I'd ever felt, and kept me from running.

When Bon Jovi ended, he let me go and went back to my phone. I stood and watched him while he fiddled with it, until the sounds of _My Love_ softly wafted from it, and he came back to me, once again gathering me in his arms. His hands at the small of my back, mine around his neck, my fingers occasionally in his hair, and his sometimes on my ass. After a few more songs played, I realized he'd found the mix, _our_ mix, on his own.

It was in his arms that suddenly different words and their music drifted into my head over the song that was playing, a hazy memory on my periphery.

_I don't wanna run away, but I can't take it, I don't understand._

I stiffened, throwing us both off, Charlie's hands suddenly on my hips.

"Cath?"

_If I'm not made for you, then why does my heart tell me that I am?_

My hands drifted down to his chest. I could feel him looking at me as I stared, unseeing, trying to pull the memory from the deep recesses where it was hiding.

_Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?_

It was like a stepping into an ice cold shower. That song, those lyrics...

"Charlie...I..." I stammered, looking up at him, and then over at my radio. I knew that song. I left his arms, dropping on my knees in front of my phone, frantically searching, knowing it was there, somewhere, needing to hear it, needing...

"What is it?" Charlie asked from behind me.

Until I had it, moved it to our mix, and hit the arrow to play.

Rising to my feet slowly, my eyes took a path along the grass to his feet and up, my ears drinking in the music, until I saw his face and the recognition slowly come across it.

"I _remember_. You...you said, 'Yes, baby. Never let me go. Promise.'"

"Charlie..." I whispered, as I ran back into his arms, and instead of dancing, moving, he held me, until I felt his hands come up on either side of my face.

"Cath..." His lips were on mine before he finished my name, his arms back around me, pulling me as close as possible, until his lips and tickly mustache ran a path to just under my ear.

"Alice told me to play it for you. That you might hear it. I didn't even know the song, but it was..."-he brought his eyes back to mine-"...pretty damn perfect." He pulled me close again, his lips in my hair. "I didn't know how to say those things to you, what to say at all, what with everyone always around, and not knowing if you even heard me. But then Edward said you could, and..."

I nodded, my arms going around him, my head to his chest. "I _did_ hear them. I heard _you_, all the time. Every time you were near, and even some when you weren't. Your voice, the things you said. I _always _heard you, Charlie. I will _always_ hear you."

We held each other like that, completely still, sharing the overwhelming emotions our words couldn't between us. After we both calmed a little, he took my hand, leading me down to sit, and a few soft kisses and knowing looks later, we'd found ourselves on the dewy grass, listening to the music, my head on his chest, his arm around me. The sights and sounds of the morning passing by without much notice by either of us, both just content after everything we'd been through to just lay there and feel each other. No words needed, just the occasional skim of his fingertips over my spine, or mine over his abs.

"What are you thinking about? Right now," I asked, out of the blue.

He didn't respond right away, so I popped my head up to see his face. His eyes had been closed, but as soon as he felt me move, he opened them, finding mine, with what seemed to me a contented grin.

"Nothin'."

"Well, if that's the case, teach me?" I smiled up at him, and then set my head back down. I could feel his insides change, like the swell of a wave, right before it breaks.

His hand started to move on my back, and I lifted my head back up, rolling more onto my side. "Tell me." I ran my hand up the outside of shirt, over his stomach, and up to his chest. "I can feel it's something. It's not like the poker face is gonna help you anymore."

Raising his head, he smiled again, and this time, it was more real. He rolled onto his side, resting his head on the hand that had been around me, his other hand suddenly reaching out, the side of his index finger running along my cheek, and then moving my hair behind my shoulder.

I picked at some grass between us, glancing at his chest, and then the grass I was playing with, not wanting to think the worst, until his finger went under my chin, lifting my eyes to his.

"You, actually." He tapped the top of my nose, dropping his hand on top of mine that had been in the grass, curling his fingers around it and bringing it to his chest.

I tilted my head slightly. "Oh? And what were you thinking about me?"

"I was thinking how I wished we could stay. Just like this. Forever."

I smiled up at him, and then felt another wave of something from his hand, something that felt like...nervousness.

"On the side of a mountain, living in a tent?" I joked back.

"Yeah, why not? It's not like we have to worry about going to the bathroom, or cooking, and we can skinny dip in the lake down there." He gave me that teasing grin of his.

I laid back on the grass, shutting my eyes, attempting to shut out the thoughts the words "skinny dip" conjured up. Being naked with Charlie wasn't the issue - not anymore - because I knew the change had done things to my body besides just what Carlisle said. _Healing_ it, he had said. Why oh why couldn't it heal the mind?

"Hey..."

I felt Charlie's hand on my stomach, and the slow back and forth of it as he wondered where I'd gone. I tried to concentrate on it, on it being Charlie's hand, but my body stiffened, as if on its own. My hand flew from the side of me and over his, stopping its movement, clutching it as if it were a tether to a dock, my body a boat with no oars, slowly drifting...drifting...

"No, no, NO!" He pulled my hand and me with him, back onto his chest.

I threw my leg around him as his one hand held my head, his other one splayed over my back, holding me to him. I fought hard this time, willing back the edge as I knew it, although it's demarcation lines were indefinable, changing, and appeared out of nowhere. My hands clenched his shoulders, feeling what he was sending me, concentrating on it - my safety net - his strength, his reassurance, his love, with a little bit of his fear mixed in.

"I won't let you go there," he whispered in my ear. "I won't _let_ you." His hand caressed my back. "I'm here now."

I held him tighter, burrowing my face into his neck, squeezing his waist with my thighs, and I remembered what Carlisle had said.

_Make them disappear. Overcome them by replacing them with thoughts and actions of the love you and Charlie have for each other._

"Charlie?" I pushed up from him a bit to see his expression, his brow furrowed in worry. The feeling subsiding, I suddenly realized I hadn't seen _him_. His face. It had been like seeing the storm just before it hits, before the wind swells and the rains come. I had anticipated it hitting, or my body had, but my mind had kept me in the moment. I remembered every moment, every word, every movement.

It was a small victory, but a victory, nonetheless.

I sat up straighter, straddling his waist so I could see him, and couldn't help but bring my hand to his cheek, remembering more of what Carlisle said.

_His arm was broken, he had a large cut on his face, a fractured rib, and..._

His hand slipped down from my back, his fingers on my hip. "Charlie, I'm so sorry. For everything. For what he did to you, for what he made you see, for bringing this all on you." I ran my fingers over his cheek, his mustache, his lips as I said the words. "Carlisle told me."

My eyes dropped, remembering what I had seen from Carlisle's memory, only half imagining the vile things that Damian had done to Charlie, but knowing he had been in some ways violated, just like me.

"Don't," he said, as he suddenly sat up, bringing me with him and onto his lap. "It doesn't even come close to...I'm fine." He pushed back my hair from my face.

"Carlisle said that everything was fixed...with the change." I searched his eyes, questioning, not able to ask him.

His grin was one of frustration, as he closed his eyes, shaking his head. "All my parts are in working order, as are yours, I've been told."

"Charlie, I'm not talking about...I mean, I _am_, but..."

Charlie suddenly lifted me and him off the ground, and I let me feet drop.

"Baby, I know what you're talkin' about, and if you keep sittin' here on my lap, wigglin' that fine ass of yours, we're both _really_ gonna know."

_Oh shit._

"Charlie, I'm-"

"C'mon," he said, taking my hand. "Let's go enjoy a little bit more of this view before it starts to rain."

I didn't want to chance a glance down to see just what affect I'd had on him, so I just nodded, looking into his eyes as he led me over to the spot he was talking about. As he sat down, dangling his legs, I couldn't help but look out once more. The vista was absolutely beautiful, even amidst the clouds. There was even a point where the sun's rays filtered through, creating a spotlight effect on the ground below. I dropped down to sit next to him, taking his hand in mine. It was weird to sit this far up and not be afraid. I had never really been afraid of heights, even before, but we were _really_ high. I glanced down at our joined hands, gathering up Charlie's into my lap, folding my other hand over them both. It occurred to me that I would never be afraid again, as long as this man was next to me.

"Catherine, can I ask you something?" Charlie suddenly said.

"No. You must never ask me another question as long as we...um...live." I playfully tugged his hand, looking over at him, but he didn't turn toward me - instead, still gazing out, his expression serious.

"Charlie, I was joking. Ask me anything." I reached for his shoulder with the hand closest to him, rubbing slightly when he still didn't look at me.

His eyes went down then, his cheeks puffing out, right before he blew out a big gust of air. "Did talking to Carlisle...did it help you?" He finally looked at me, hiding what was in his head, but I could feel it. It had been a question he didn't want to ask, but his concern had won out.

I rubbed his shoulder once more, before dropping my hand back on the one I held, squeezing it a little, gazing back out. "Yes, it did." I looked back at him. "He made me say it, Charlie. What happened to me. That I was..."

I hesitated, and as I did, Charlie pulled his hand from mine and put his arm around me to hold me closer.

"...raped," I whispered, and as I said it, Charlie's hand squeezed my shoulder, his lips in my hair leaving a gentle kiss.

"He told me what happened to me, and to you, and how they all were there. How they all...got rid of him."

"I didn't know what he was, I didn't know how to stop him, I-"

"Shhh..." I turned toward him, throwing my arm around his middle. "You did everything you possibly could. Neither of us knew what we were dealing with."

"But you shouldn't have had to-"

"No, Charlie. Please don't blame yourself. _Please._ Carlisle said I have to change the memories, the visions, and _overcome _them. So do you. And we will - together." I tilted my head back so I could see his. Our eyes met, and then his traveled my face, my lips, and then back.

"You're incredible," he said softly, his head leaning down, his lips finding mine, the mustache I loved so much ticking my upper lip until my lips parted, deepening the kiss, my hand sliding up to just behind his neck. His tongue was gentle, and I could tell he was holding back.

"I need you, Charlie," I said, breaking the kiss, and he pulled back, his eyes once again intently on mine.

"I need you, too. But I don't want to-"

"I know."

I laid my head against his chest again, his arm running up and down my back. Neither of us said anything for what felt like hours, and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe Charlie was afraid. I'd never asked him if he had flashbacks, nor did he ever say he did. I'd been so wrapped up in myself, in my inner demons, in trying to figure out how to be with Charlie, I'd never once considered the possibility that he might have similar issues.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" he suddenly asked.

"Do you ever have them?" I blurted out.

"Have what?"

"Flashbacks." I leaned back once again to see his face. This time, he kept his eyes looking out.

"I've had a few. Nothing like what you experience, though."

He didn't continue right away, so I put my head back against his chest, not wanting to force him.

"I remember the sick and twisted way he looked back at me after biting you."

I held in my gasp, not realizing Damian had taunted him that way.

"I remember what you said, mostly. That you would...that he could...as long as he let me live." I could feel his head shake back and forth, as if trying to wipe them from his mind. "I'll never stop hearing them."

"I...I thought you were dead," I admitted, rubbing my cheek against his shirt. "I thought you were...and then I heard your voice. All I wanted was for you to live." The gasp I'd been holding escaped, the words flying from my lips as the memory came back.

His other arm came around me, pulling me close. "God, Cath, I know. I know. And I couldn't get to you...the cuffs...my arm was broken...I just wanted to rip him apart."

My body started to rock. Charlie's insides were a mess, and so I did what I could to help him, as he'd always done with me, sending him what good I could - all of my love.

"Oh!" he suddenly let out. "Oh, keep doing that, yeah. Wow, is that what that feels like when I do it to you?"

I nodded against his chest. "Yep."

I felt a small smile creep on my face. He was calming down, and so was I. I reveled for a few moments in what he could do, what we could do for each other, and realized no other couple on earth could do what we do. Saying the words, maybe guessing each other's thoughts, yes, but not being able to actually feel what the love of your life was feeling, or share with him what you were feeling.

It was truly amazing.

"Where in the hell did you just go?" Charlie asked, and I could tell it was through a smile, even without looking at him.

"I was thinking how amazing we are," I muttered, my eyes closed, lost in what he was letting me feel.

And he laughed. Not a gut-busting belly laugh, but enough of one to send a ripple through me that made me shudder.

"Do that again."

"What?"

"Laugh."

"Okay." Then he did.

"Mmmm." I hugged him tighter still, and then giggled to myself. I wouldn't describe it as giddy - more like bubbly happy drunk.

"Aaaah!" Charlie had felt it.

We experimented with short little snorts, and big giant belly laughs, until finally, I pulled away, my insides all a-buzz.

"What say you and I go find us a cougar?" Charlie asked, smiling back at me.

"You want to hunt? _Now_? Are we even allowed?"

He gave me a look. "Hmm, yeah, good point. Well, if we don't go too far, we should be fine." I followed Charlie's eyes to where he'd been gazing out, seeing the clouds darkening. "You should get your phone, and get that contraption it's hooked up to inside the tent. In fact, send Obi a message to let him know what we're doing and that we're fine. He's probably pulled out half the side of his head of hair by now." Charlie smirked, getting to his feet and offering his hand.

I took it, getting my feet under me as he pulled me to standing.

"You mean send him a text." I hid my smile.

"Yeah. Whatever the hell it's called."

But a thought suddenly occurred to me. "Charlie, you _do_ remember what happens when we hunt, right?"

"Yep." He just smiled at me, tugging me close with my hand he was holding, his arm then wrapping around me.

"Baby steps," he muttered.

* * *

A/N:

Well, I hope it was worth the wait.

The next chapter will be the one you've waited for, I think. lol! If you'd like some insight to it, I suggest listening to Finzi's Romance for String Orchestra in E flat Major, Op. 11.

I've had it for months, just waiting for this next chapter. I think it will be the music for it, but like most things, I won't know until I write it, and I feel it, but I think it works. For now.

Thanks once again for reading, and if you so choose, reviewing.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: I've picked two very different pieces of music for this chapter, both from films, because I couldn't find the right mix of emotion and tone in any classical pieces that I know that I haven't used. The first one, for Charlie's POV might surprise you, but it is undoubtedly one of the most hauntingly beautiful melodies ever written, and one of my most favorite. I didn't use the main theme, or the reprise (the different arrangement for the end of the movie), but a variation entitled, "I Could Have Done More" for the sole reason that, in essence, it has always been Charlie's theme. I chose it for him here, because, well, you'll see. In keeping with the violin solos, the 2nd piece for Catherine's POV is wrought with a tenderer undertone, and a little more…optimism. You'll have to put them both on repeat to get through each section.

I hope you see both, as well as this chapter, the way I did when it finally did decide to work its way out of me. It was, to say the least, a long journey. It's not what I intended it to be a year ago when I finished Chapter 30, but, I think it's what it _should_ be.

As always, craptons of thanks to Alexis Danaan and HammerHips for their prereading, and JaspersDestiny for masterbetaing.

The long awaited…

* * *

**Chapter 31**

**CharliePOV - **_**I Could Have Done More**_**, from Schindler's List**

I hated when she left my arms, even though I'd told her to.

Things were just starting to feel…right.

I studied her for a moment as she walked to our bag, the radio, gathered it all up, and headed into the tent. Only focusing on her ass for, oh, a second or two, I turned away to look back out over the expanse and slyly adjusted Charlie, Jr. in the process.

_Baby steps. _

_Right. _

She was willing to go on a hunt, or at least a walk, which I guess was a good sign. She didn't fool me, though, because the indecision stirred within her in those last moments we'd still been touching. The more I held her, the more I was got used to all the inner cues she gave off letting me know what was percolating in that head of hers. It was kinda weird that in all the years I'd come to learn how to read people, just by contact I could tell what she was feeling, as much as I'd come to recognize what each different kind of flutter, zing, or rev of her engine meant. It also made me realize I didn't know enough words to describe them all.

When she had asked about me, my flashbacks, just a few minutes ago, however, it had twisted my gut enough to feel pain again—pain like I'd felt that first time she ran away from me. Pain, like the night I watched as she gave herself, her _life_, for mine. Although I'd never wanted to tell her about me, about my experiences—I never really wanted her to know—I felt I needed to because she'd spilled some about her talk with Carlisle. There was probably more, maybe not, but that didn't matter. I'd never be able to repay the doc for whatever he did, whatever he said to her, and whatever he got her to say to him.

I vaguely remembered from my training that admitting it to herself, actually saying the word, was half the battle for her. For us. But I could tell the memories from BC, before Catherine, were getting foggier. Damn, how I wished it would do the same thing for that night. For her. Out of all of the vamp shit we had to go through, couldn't it make them fade just a little, just enough to give us a break? This next step —a step I knew at least part of her wanted—was going to take every ounce of this so-called control I apparently had like Bella. I didn't even know if it was the right thing to do, but it was those three words she'd said that kept repeating in my head.

_I need you. _

My reply had been automatic but the truth nonetheless. I needed her too—hell, more than I even knew how to truly need someone. It was more than that whole two halves thing, but I couldn't have explained it even if someone had asked me to try. She'd awakened something inside me I'd thought was long ago dead. Even if we were vamps now, and dead as all get out, I didn't give a fuck.

Because she made me feel _alive_.

But was it too soon, too soon to try to…? The words _make love_ kicked around in my head like a bucking bull. I couldn't remember the last time I'd said them, let alone thought them, and I heaved a giant unnecessary breath, a crapload of smells assaulted me as I did. There was plenty to hunt and most of it not too far. All of this vamp shit, on top of what we were both going through, was like the mother load of all mother loads, although Cath had it so much worse. The courses I'd taken, the training…

"Training," I mumbled to myself, feeling like I was already forgetting some of it.

I got a quick flash of a technology seminar…

"Cath, wait!" I said louder than necessary, taking two steps back to the tent. She was outside in one shake of a stick, and I couldn't help but notice the new pink shirt she had on. In small letters, right between her breasts, it read _Life is good_.

"Yeah, Chief?" she asked, zippering the opening shut before standing back up.

Finding her eyes before I got busted, I pushed the thought of how good life _could_ be out of my head. "You didn't send that text to Edward yet, did you?"

"Not yet, why?"

"Because I'm thinking…it might be a bad idea to use your phone again."

Her gaze slowly fell from mine down to about my mid torso, and suddenly she was reaching into the back pocket of her jeans. "Shit," she mumbled in nearly a whisper as she pulled it out, and proceeded to stare at it.

It probably wasn't a good time to tell her how cute she was when she swore.

"Yeah. I'm thinking if my guys think we're still missing, which I'm pretty sure they'll be clinging to until they find evidence otherwise, they'll be checking out your phone records. Probably already have. Any new activity will lead them to believe you're alive. Maybe the both of us."

"Yeah," she mumbled again.

Saying nothing else, I reached for her forearm, wanting the contact.

"Do they track…activity, like net activity too?" She didn't look up as she asked the question, ignoring my hand on her arm. Her thumb lightly skimmed the screen, as her anxiety ran up my arm like tiny pinpricks.

"Babe, my guys can track perps on foot, wild animals in the woods, often run license plates numbers. There's simply no need for that type of…" I wracked my brain for the right words, "…technological prowess in Forks. Our biggest crime here is theft, shoplifting, and underage drinking. A few cases of pot smoking. Internet crime? Not that big." I attempted a reassuring grin. "Just don't use it anymore. We'll go down the mountain a ways, and you can send out a Jedi mind flare to Edward with what I'm thinking to ask him to ask Jasper what to do."

"But Charlie, I…" she kept on staring at the damn phone, only to finally look up at me, "…I sorta went to the web before, when I was checking on the Sox and your Mariners. Did I screw something up?"

Tugging her to me, I took the phone from her with one hand and gathered her closer to me, by her hip, with the other. "Stop worrying. You'll get a message to Edward, Edward will talk to Jasper, and someone will let us know. For the time being, until we can get you a new one, maybe just use it for the music, okay?" I pulled her closer still and slid the phone into her back pocket, giving her a slight pat on the ass after it was safely hidden away again. "Hey, it'll be all right. Don't worry."

"I…I know." Her fingers grazed my chest and slowly slid a path up and around my neck, but I caught the little v in between her eyes. It told me the wheels were churning. When I pressed a kiss there, she leaned her head back to get a better look at me. Those golden eyes of hers were darker, more like caramel, and they hedged mine until she softly said, "I _trust_ you."

For a moment, I knew she meant more with those three words than some stupid cop's explanation about procedure. She didn't need to say them out loud. Maybe it was her fingertips on the back of my neck, or the vibe coming straight through her breasts as she pushed up against my chest that sent a ripple through me, but I let a gentle kiss on her lips say everything I couldn't.

"By the way, I like it when you call me Chief," I muttered against her lips, wanting to do something to change her mood. Leaning my head back a bit to see her expression, her raised eyebrows contradicted the undercurrent coming from her.

"Is that so?"

"Yep." But I didn't want to go there yet. Maneuvering my arm down hers to pull her hand from my neck, I gave the back of it another kiss before leading her over to the edge from where we'd hiked up. "C'mon, let's go down the mountain so you can have your Jedi mind chat with Edward. At least so they know we're okay. Maybe they can hook us up with another phone, just in case."

Her chin ducked when she gave me a slight nod. "I should've known better."

"No, I should've." I let go of her hand and lightly pressed her forward at the small of her back with some of the gentleman still in me.

We hiked down at a human pace, and I surveyed the sights and sounds as we went, keeping my eyes open for anything that might make her twitch. A few times I caught her neck twisting, her nose lifting slightly into the air. She smelled the same thing I did—dinner—and a couple of times I thought for sure she was going to take off.

But she didn't.

When we reached the other side of the lake, I could tell from the way she stopped and the way her head tilted ever so slightly that she'd radioed Edward. So, I sat my ass down on a fallen tree log. Not that I needed to; it wasn't like I could be out of breath. Well, technically I was, but…

It was just my attempt at…casual.

"He said to wait here. Apparently Jasper already…" Her eyes made a beeline for something over my right shoulder. I didn't have to look; I sensed Jasper too.

"Howdy, folks. How's everything?" He grinned as he sauntered out from the edge of some trees, just to the east.

"Hey," she responded. From my vantage point, and the way she said it, it was like she was trying hard to hide something. Maybe it was the way her palms travelled over the sides of her jeans, or the half-assed smile she tried to give him, but what I sensed was nerves, and I didn't even have to be touching her. For the life of me, I didn't know why. She'd seemed calm and in control on our way down. Unless she was thinking about something, something she was afraid Jasper would pick up on.

If he did, he didn't acknowledge it, and stopped a couple of feet short of Catherine, just outside of her _un_comfort zone. "Lucky for you both, I realized the phone thing last night. I was going to have Edward come out to you both, right before Catherine convo'd in." Reaching in to his front pocket, he pulled out something that looked like another phone. "New phone and sim card." He held it up to me and then walked closer to Catherine. "I already backed up your phone on one of our laptops, just in case. All of your music is here, as well as your apps and contacts. For all intents and purposes, you're Catherine Smith now. Edward wanted Cullen, but Carlisle and I thought it would be too much of a coincidence."

He held the phone out to her, and she stared at it a moment. "Whoa. You guys _are_ good." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, then slowly offered it to Jasper. After removing the pink case and putting it on her new phone, he offered it back to her in a similar gesture. Watching her, I didn't sense anything off, no anxiety now, and before I knew it, her arms were wrapped around his neck, and she was whispering a soft thank. Jasper's tentative glance at me as his hands met her hips made something stir in me, something that had me on my feet and next to her before it registered, my chest rumbling before I even knew what the sound was.

"Relax, Chief." Suddenly I was flooded with that Jell-O feeling he'd given me before, only to watch as Catherine gasped and stepped back from him.

"Chief!" Catherine grabbed my hand and held tightly even for her, yanking me to her side. I met Jasper's eyes and gave him a pointed look, indicating something close to get the fuck away from her. Between his vibe and the one I was getting from Catherine, whatever had overcome me backed off a bit.

"It's a natural reaction for us…like jealousy overload. All you wanted to do was rip my head off, right?" Jasper explained, taking a step back.

I ran my empty hand over my head, Edward-style, rubbing a bit, and gave him a polite nod. Yep, that's what it felt like.

"We _all_ get it with our mates, from time to time," he said, taking another step back while offering another shot of that relaxing mojo of his.

Catherine now had my hand trapped in hers, pressed against her stomach. It wasn't that I didn't trust Jasper, at least the rational part of me did, but whatever had happened was so automatic, like BAM! Two seconds more and there would've been a smackdown.

_More vampstincts. Wonderful. Just what I need. _

"You're gonna do whaaaaat?" Catherine's sudden outburst had me looking back and for the between the two of them.

"Uh, you saw that, huh? Well, Alice and I are going to take this here phone into Seattle, have it accidentally fall into the wrong hands, throw the cops off your trail, and hopefully take down a few undesirables in the meantime." Jasper's smirk grew as he described for me what Catherine apparently had already seen in his head.

Whatever had just happened with me was forgotten, as my inner cop took over. "Just be careful, son. We don't need anything happening to either one of you." I didn't need any more explanation as to what they'd devised, even if we were vamps and indestructible. Well, relatively.

"Sure will, Chief. It was Alice's idea. I was none too happy about it initially, but it _is_ a good idea. My girl, she's…well, she does have a devious little mind. Can't fault her for it." Jasper let out a short laugh. "Don't you worry, we'll be back in no time, and your phone—and your trail—will be even colder."

"I'm sorry, Jasper. If I'd only—"

"Don't think another moment on it, darlin'. Piece o' cake. Besides, I should've done something about your phone long ago. Bein' that we were all…a bit distracted, it's nobody's fault." He gave Catherine a reassuring grin. "I'm gonna head on back now. You can use that phone to call any of us, if Edward's not within' mind shot. All our numbers are in there now."

I took the opportunity to ask Jasper something that had been gnawing at me. "Say Jasper, any news on the Volturi? Alice, has she?…"

"Nothin', Chief. Nothing at all so far."

"Good." I could tell he wasn't covering because I didn't get any flux from Catherine. She'd have seen it.

"Oh, but, uh…" A slight duck of his chin and his gaze dropping to the ground suddenly had my eyebrows hitting my hairline, and just as he did Catherine tensed against my side.

"Alice asked me to tell you…" I caught the corners of his mouth twitching into a slight grin, "everything's gonna be all right. For you both. She said to tell you, Chief, you already know what you have to do. Catherine," he paused as he glanced at her, "yeah…"

If I didn't know better, I would've said the Major was slightly embarrassed.

"Just…just take it slow, the both of you." And with a slight nod, he took off.

I chanced a glance at Catherine, who went from looking at the path that Jasper had taken, to looking at the new phone, before peeking in my direction, and with it came another zing right up my arm.

I thought _human_ women gave off mixed signals.

I had half a mind to stake myself and the horn dog vamp inside me.

"So, uh, did you see what that was all about, that message from Alice?" I asked, wondering if that was why she'd tensed up.

I couldn't see her face as she'd gone back to looking in the direction Jasper had run off to. "Nope. I was trying to just now, though. Nothing. He was purposely thinking of Seattle."

And then she let my hand drop.

Dammit, she was trying so hard to hide what was going on inside her, even when we'd been connected, and she was getting better at it, too. So was I. Deep down, I just wanted to gather her up, wrap my arms around her, and kiss her until it all went away.

But I didn't.

"Whadya say we mosey on around the lake a bit, unless you'd like to take a swim?"

"Ummmm…" She glanced toward the lake as she pocketed her new phone. I really wanted to be that phone, and I shook my head so fast to get the thought outta there I could've easily snapped my own neck.

"Let's walk a bit. Are you…are you hungry at all?"

"Nope. Not really." Total and complete lie.

When she held out her hand again for me to take it, I was confused for about half a second. I figured when she'd dropped my hand that she wanted to keep to herself for a while. I made sure with my hesitation, a glance at her hand, and then with a look directly in her eyes, that it was what she really wanted, until she started wiggling her fingers at me. As I took it, she squeezed my hand and stepped closer to look at me straight on. "Uh huh. You should put some sunglasses on then."

She began walking, pulling me with her.

"Sunglasses?" I asked.

Keeping her back to me, I trailed behind. "The eyes never lie, Chief." Her near snort threw me for a loop. Then I understood.

Of course. The eyes. I might've rolled mine into the back of my head. "Okay, Sherlock, lead on."

On the first go round, we walked the entire perimeter of the lake in relative silence. Once in a while she'd spot some bug or odd bird she'd never seen before, and I'd tell her what it was, if I knew. I pushed down deep any evidence of the mess that was inside me, trying to exude anything but through the gentle touch of my hand around hers. But she was a twister inside, going from one extreme to another. When it reached F5 she'd let go of my hand and sometimes rip out a strand of tall grass, tying it in knots as we went on. I figured it was what it must be like in her head, and wished not once but a hundred times, that I could read her mind like Edward could. But I let her go on, content in just to look at her, to be there for her. I'd never been much with words. Hell, what I'd shared with her had been the most anyone had ever weaseled out of me, not that she'd weaseled. I knew what it was to just listen and observe, and I didn't want her to think I was rushing things.

What light there had been was quickly being replaced by thickening clouds and dusk. I wasn't sure how much longer she wanted to be out here, not that the rain would bother us, but my mind began to wander to her and the possibility of a wet pink shirt.

About halfway around on our fourth loop she suddenly stopped and took a seat on an ass-high rock near the shore. "You know what's amazing?"

_Yeah, the thought I just had._

"Not feeling the least bit tired after that, like I could run the Boston marathon. Twice."

"Yep. Not even the slightest bit winded." I stepped in behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, sending with it some of what I hoped felt like understanding.

She leaned her head back, the top of it grazing my gut, and closed her eyes. "Thank you…" she let out a long breath, "for that."

"Just doing what I can, babe." I rubbed her shoulder a bit, and then brought up my other hand to her other shoulder, lightly massaging them both. She seemed to be relaxing, until suddenly she lifted up her head again to where I couldn't see her face anymore. I didn't need to; I could feel it – the change in her.

I stopped massaging.

"Charlie, I'm…"

"I know."

"No, let me say this." Reaching up, she covered my hand with hers, gripping it. Not as tightly as when I nearly jumped Jasper, but almost.

"I'm…I'm…sorta scared."

"Me too." No lie there.

"No, I mean…I'm not…" I lifted the hand she wasn't holding and gently ran my fingers over the top of her head, through the curls. She leaned her head back against me once more, again with her eyes closed, as if she didn't want to look at me. "I'm afraid of what might happen, or what _won't_ happen, if we…I can't stop thinking about it." Opening her eyes, she left her head against me, but I could tell by her fluttering eyelashes she was scanning every bit of the scenery in front of her. "Part of me doesn't…I mean, I know how you feel about me, everything you've done, and know I what I feel for you. The other part…still feels…" She lifted her head once more and gazed out across the water, her emotions whirring about just like the sentences she couldn't finish. But I knew everything she couldn't say—her feelings of guilt, inadequacy, most of all the fear fighting with her determination, because beyond the words was this connection we had. She gave off a distinct energy when her mind went back to that night, and I could feel it, like it was buzzing just around the perimeter. Other than the moment I stopped her from running, when I'd brought her back from that edge, I'd never been more thankful than now to have it. Even with what I had suspected that night after Nessie, after I was sure I knew at least one of her triggers even if she didn't, she had to get there on her own. Regain the control, both physically and mentally.

"I…I want to be with you so bad it hurts. Like it was at your place. I want to completely forget. I just don't want to disappoint you. If I…"

I knew she couldn't say anymore when she nearly crushed my hand. She'd said more than any victim I could remember. Maybe it was because she couldn't see me, or because of what I was letting her feel. Hell I didn't know; I didn't care, I was just glad she was talking about it. With me.

I stopped fiddling with her hair long enough to peer down at her, but I didn't need to see her face. "I know," I simply said, slowly sliding my hand under her hair and running my thumb over the pressure points along her hairline. I couldn't let her think…damn, I needed the right words. Standing straighter again, I inhaled deeply and let it out, taking in the view that she'd been staring out into, observing everything and yet nothing at all. "No matter what…happens, no matter how long it takes, you could _never_…disappoint me. The mere fact that we're here, that you're…_sitting_ here…how far you've come, even with all this other shit going on…there's no rush."

Letting out the softest sigh, she tilted her neck forward just a bit, enough for me to feel her relax again. We both stayed like that for a while, just gazing out, the bond not just about my hand on her, but more, and I could feel it running through us, humming.

"I love you, you know."

I had to chuckle. "Mmmhmm."

"You know you're the only man I've ever admitted fear to, twice now."

"If I said I'm honored, you'd know how I meant that, right?" I _was_ honored, even if she didn't realize it.

The slight nod of her head was her only response.

"Hey…" With a slight squeeze of her shoulders, I leaned over to take a whiff of her hair and whispered, "I love you, too," before giving it and the side of her head a tender kiss. At least, tender was what I was aiming for, although that scent of hers sent such a rush through me I had to straighten up again. "Just talk to me. Tell me what you need, or don't need."

"I wish…I wish…" she hesitated for a blink or two, "I want you to be _you_, Charlie. I want us to be…_us_. I want to be past it, to do like Carlisle said. I know you want it. I can feel it."

"Only when you're ready."

"Carlisle told me, or rather I told him, that I have to get back on the horse."

I would've liked to have seen Doc C's face when she said that to him.

The thought was lost as both our heads whipped west. It wasn't cougar and it wasn't a horse, and it was just on the far side of the lake. Elk.

"C'mon." She got up suddenly and took off. My shock gave her at least a good three second head start.

"Cath, wait!"

Before I knew it, we were both racing toward them. I'd never noticed how quiet she could be, running full-tilt through the trees and the brush, but she was on one before the group of four knew what hit them. She had a huge buck in her arms, pinned and sucking at its neck, before I was on the straggler. The other two got away. With my arms around its neck, I sank my teeth in before I even had it on the ground. The momentary rush of warm blood down my throat as I overpowered it had me forgetting everything as I just drank. As the last of it quenched my thirst, I let it slip from my arms. My insides began to rev, my nose in tune again with her scent—, my woman, my mate—and I whipped around on my knees to lock eyes with hers fifty feet away. At that moment, I knew exactly what it meant, _my_ mate, better than Emmett and Jasper had tried to explain it. She'd finished and was watching me, nothing but a trickle of blood on the side of her mouth. I swallowed hard as her tongue snaked out and licked that last dribble on the side.

Christ, those lips…that tongue…

She was mine, I was hers, and there was absolutely no question about it.

We both were on our feet at the same time, and I peripherally scanned the area for anyone, anything, that might be a threat. I wanted her. Now. Here. Just as the thought entered my head she was in my arms, jumping to wind her legs around my hips. Our mouths fused together, both of our tongues tasting the blood on the other. I felt breathless even though I didn't need to breathe. I felt on fire again, almost like changing. Charlie, Jr. was about to burst out of his barracks as the rush of something I couldn't define coursed through my veins at a pace I didn't know how to control.

And I felt the same from her.

"Water." She left my lips for only a moment to say the word, pulling off her shirt, her bra, before I found those lips, her tongue again. Her soft moans only spurred me on, her thighs clenching around me, as I ran toward the water, palms on her ass. She dropped her feet down as soon as we were close, flinging her clothes here and there, with mine following. Nearly ripping my jeans off, I ogled her hips, her ass, what I could see of a breast as she ran in knee-deep and then dove under.

I was right behind her.

The water was cold, but it didn't affect Charlie, Jr. or whatever else was going on inside me. When I reached waist-deep, she swam back in my arms again, her thighs clenching so tightly around me that the slightest touch of Charlie, Jr. between her legs had him at full mast. Planting my feet firmly on the rocky bottom, I held her as she writhed in my arms, the accelerating V8 engine in her evident with each moan. Our lips and tongues explored every inch they could reach, until her fingertips twisted my hair demanding my mouth again. I all but came when I felt the warmth of her rubbing against me.

I let her lead. I knew I had to, but thinking was becoming damn near impossible. Before I knew it, she had me on my back on the shore, where it was shallow, not that either one of us could drown. Above me on all fours, she slowly licked and sucked until she dropped her bottom down on me, the heat between her legs now sliding down over my gut.

Water splashed around us as I alternated between arching my head back from the pleasure of what she was doing with her lips to watching her as she licked and sucked, her wet hair spanning my chest. Her fingernails skimmed over what she didn't kiss, my tip grazing her ass each time she went lower.

I didn't know if I should stop her.

I didn't know if I could speak.

Lord knows I didn't want to.

But if she kept on...Digging my fingers into the mud and tiny stones on either side of me for leverage, I was afraid to move a muscle, to make a sound, to even touch her. She was so damn beautiful in her abandon that I _couldn't_ stop her, because with every kiss, every slide of her fingers over my wet skin, Charlie Jr. came closer to where he wanted to be, and I…

I was losing control.

"Unngh…" The guttural moan just slipped out as her lips closed over a nipple and sucked it hard into her mouth. But the sound was enough to break wherever she'd been, whatever spell that we'd both been under, because suddenly she froze, and my head popped up faster than a prairie dog's. A mess of wet curls hung over the sides of her face as she lifted her mouth just inches above from where it had been on my chest, still in the shape of an o. She stayed frozen like that for what seemed like forever, until she slowly slid off to the side, one-hardened nipple skimming my ribs, her hand stilling on my sternum, her thigh resting across my stomach.

"Caaath?..." I didn't want her name to be a groan, but it was, and that's when I felt it. Whatever it was inside her head army-crawled from where her body pressed against my ribs, right up through my chest and into my head. Not the blackness that had completely taken her that first time, but the confusion, panic, and fear were still there. Even with her head turned away, I realized what she was looking at.

In a flash, my arm was around her, holding her as close, but as gently as possible. "Tell me…where you are," I spluttered. "Talk it through…with me."

She didn't say a word.

With a furtive glance back, the agony in her eyes was unmistakable, her pupils so wide only a golden rim ran along the edges. That same agony inside her rushed through me.

"I…"

With a shove on my chest, she loosened my arm around her and flew up and out of the water, splashing as she ran from me. Rolling on my side, the jagged pebbles I hadn't noticed on my back before now pinched. She snatched up her clothes piece by piece until she finally said, "I'm s-sorry."

And then she took off running.

"Catherine, don't!"

I scampered out of the water, picking up my clothes in between keeping a bead on her for as long as I could see her and ignoring how hard I was. Only when I realized she was headed back up the mountain and to the tent did I stop watching her. Palming my clothes in my hand against Charlie, Jr., I hobbled back to the rock she'd been sitting on what seemed like forever ago and took a seat. I didn't know what to do. Jack off here? It was damn near painful. Follow her back and just get it over with? Maybe slow and steady wasn't the way.

"No, you _ass_," I groaned out loud, to whoever or whatever might be listening, and smashed my fist right into my seat, a piece the size of a football flying.

I sat on that rock for a good long hour, maybe more. Enough to take care of things myself, calm the fuck down, and eventually put my clothes back on. It turned completely dark and had started to rain before I even noticed.

I wished I could just get my hands on him now, mano y mano, like against like. I'd rip him apart, dance on the pieces, and then rip them apart some more. For her. And then I'd let her burn each piece like some sort of offering, slowly, watching the skin and whatever else he was made of turn to ash.

Oh, how I _wished_ I could've been the one to destroy him.

Suddenly that night in my bedroom flickered before my eyes. That woman who'd undressed me, knelt before me, had put her mouth…

_Stop it, Swan._

I knew I had to take it slow and let her find that woman again, and no amount of feeding or whatever happened between the two of us when we did was going to get Catherine beyond the images of that bastard in her head, or what he did to her. There was nothing I could do to push her; that would only reinforce what she'd been through. Force was not the answer.

What I didn't know, though, was that the rock and my ass were going to get real friendly in the next few weeks.

**CathPOV - **_**Sergio Leone Suite: Main Theme from Once Upon a Time in the West**_**, Yo-Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone**

Three weeks.

Three weeks on the edge of a mountain, one tent, periodic fits of rain, one mentally-challenged vampire, one conversationally-challenged vampire, and a whole lot of tap-dancing in between.

This was not to say that the big white elephant perched precariously on the edge of the mountain with us hadn't occasionally wandered off. He just found it very difficult to find a rock big enough to hide behind.

That day had started out so promising, Charlie and me talking about my chat with Carlisle, his flashbacks, even the phone issue had been resolved by the Cullens and Jasper. When Jasper revealed to us what Alice had said, I knew she'd seen _something_, although he didn't give it away even in his head. She said it would be _all right_. Of course, Jasper didn't say _when_ Alice saw that it would be alright.

I thought I knew what I wanted when I'd sprinted after those deer, or elk. Carlisle had said that we needed to make new memories.

I thought I could handle it.

And I'd wanted it, I'd wanted_ him_. That moment when I finished drinking and turned around to see him…desire had run through me so quickly I couldn't get into his arms fast enough. Then in the water, I don't know what made me suggest it. Subconscious purification? I'd always wanted to do it in water but never had? Both?

One minute it was me and Charlie, and I couldn't get enough of him, then, it was…it wasn't even _his_ face this time, or any of the flashbacks that had been. It was more…a _feeling_, like everything I was doing was wrong. The more I tried to fight it, the worse the feeling grew, until it was a frenzy of doubt, and it wasn't about Charlie and me anymore. It was just about me getting over it. Fighting through it, with every kiss or touch I gave him, and with every brush of _him_ on my ass.

I knew he was fighting something inside, too, in the way his hands dug into the mud, what I felt from him when our bodies touched, and the expression on his face every time he threw his head back. It was like he couldn't look at me, touch me, or maybe he was afraid to. I wasn't sure.

And then it all just…popped. A flash like lightning of the inside of the cabin, of that last blurry sight of Charlie…

I couldn't get out of the water fast enough.

As I'd run back, I realized half way up the mountain that he wasn't coming after me, so I crawled inside the tent, threw my wet clothes in a corner, and cocooned myself in the sleeping bag that I'd laid out earlier. Not that I slept; I could even cry. I just balled myself up and stared at the seam of a nylon fortress. A symbolic intent of privacy, of hope, but all it screamed to me was what I had been, what _we_ had been, and what wasn't. When I heard the sounds of him…taking care of…of what he needed to because of me, when the evidence of his anguish carried by the wind and amplified by vampire hearing reached me, I yanked the pillow that had been under my head and crushed it over my ear to muffle the sound.

It didn't work.

A man with pent up sexual frustration and a severe case of blue balls doesn't just quietly..._erupt_.

I don't know how long he stayed there, wherever he'd been, but eventually he came back up the mountain and took up right outside. Part of me wanted to call for him, to have him hold me, to be asleep in his arms and have him wake me from this nightmare.

The other part didn't want him to look at me.

Dawn rose in the eastern sky before I had the courage to leave the tent. Even after a few finger pulls through my still semi-damp hair, I was sure it was still flying every which way. I probably looked like the wild woman of Borneo. Covering up my still-naked self with the sleeping bag, I unzipped the door of the tent, and saw him sitting on the ledge where we had been the day before. I was pretty sure he'd been in that same spot all night. Surer still that he heard me walk up, how could he not. But he didn't turn around, so I stood beside him, and a little bit behind, sleeping bag draped around me as tightly as I could hold it. I didn't know what to say, or do.

"Emmett just left some fishing gear by the lake. Something tells me Alice told him to bring it. I'm going to go down there for a while."

He didn't turn around or look at me as he said it. I gathered the sleeping bag closer to my chest.

"All right," I mumbled.

"You gonna be okay up here? Just holler if you—"

"I'll be okay." Who was I kidding?

He went to get up, so I backed away, at least 5 feet away.

As he got to his feet, he stared at the ground between us. "I just need some time…to think."

"I know." His hesitation to look at me spoke louder than words, but just before he left, he met my gaze. Even though he tried to hide it, I could see the struggle within him. With a squeeze blink and a nod, he raced down the mountainside, leaving me standing alone.

That's how it was for a week or so. He'd always come back to check on me, or I'd walk down to see how he was. We hunted separately, although I knew that when I went out he would track me at a distance, and race back to camp right before I was finished. I played with my new phone when he was away, spending much of the time googling anything and everything I could find on what had happened to me, although "Raped by a Vampire" only brought me fiction I was sure Anne Rice would scoff at. I didn't even click on the links.

When he would return, Charlie would play around with the various lures, twisting and knotting fishing line, sometimes crushing in his hand the lure he was working on. Frustration would set in, and he'd whip something off the edge as far as he could. I would pretend I didn't notice, concentrating hard on whatever I was reading on the tiny screen. Sometimes we talked, small talk mostly. I showed him things on my phone, stuff on YouTube, the scores, certain news sites. He'd wanted to read what the local news was saying about us, telling me it was standard for a missing person's case. One time, though, the expression on his face made me think it wasn't, but when I asked him about it, all he said was, "It's nothing," so I let it go.

When it rained, I usually huddled inside the tent, sometimes him with me, but sometimes he went out to fish, knowing they'd bite better in the rain. I didn't have the heart to ask him what he did with them once he caught them, if he couldn't throw them back, since we couldn't eat them.

Throughout everything, he kept his distance, as did I. At first it was necessary, with me because I had been mortified again with what had happened. With Charlie, I think it was more like self-preservation. Occasionally he would take my hand, when we were just sitting in the grass in front of the tent, attempting to give me some reassurance. Sometimes we'd sit on the ledge and just look out, at one point making up a game of quoting lines from Star Wars and The Brady Bunch, or just whatever stupid inconsequential thing we could come up with. He'd occasionally brush back my hair or rub my back, or I'd run a hand over his thigh, but they were just small efforts at encouragement or comfort.

My research had given me a new understanding of what I was feeling, of what was going on in my head, but I knew that everything was augmented by this new creature I'd become. The anger that I'd felt at Charlie for the choice he'd made had long since disappeared, because even amidst these weeks of tip-toeing around each other, which was exactly what we were doing, there was nothing more amazing than seeing that man come up over the ridge, his comforting grin more than enough.

One afternoon during a downpour, when we were both stuck inside the tent, I was lying on my side making small talk on how I needed to go down to the lake and wash our clothes like Ma did on Little House on the Prairie. Charlie had been in the corner half listening, my phone in his hand, when suddenly his head popped up. "Little House on the _Prairie_?" he joked, as he sprawled out next to me. He was adamant that it was a waste of time since we didn't smell anymore, at least smell bad.

"Yeah, at least we don't have to go through that whole getting used to each other's bodily functions part," I quipped.

We both busted out laughing like it was the most hilarious thing we'd ever heard.

The corners of his eyes crinkled and his hand came to his gut as our laughing fit continued, and I realized that I hadn't seen him laugh like that,_ really_ laugh, in forever. I must've grown quiet, because it was enough to make him stop and roll on his side to look at me, really look at me, his eyes roaming my hair, my face, until they met mine. I was getting used to not seeing the warm brown they had been, but the warmth was still there in the buttery golden they'd become. I couldn't help but reach out my hand to his chest, and his came up to hold it there. I could feel the humor dissipate from inside him, turning into something tender yet…hopeful. He stayed like that for a few minutes, his eyes searching mine as he let me feel it swirling in him, until he rolled back to stare up at the top of the tent, my hand slipping from his as he did to rest in front of me. For a while he just laid there, not saying a word, and I stayed where I was, head balancing in my hand, as I studied him. I didn't want to press it, but at that moment I just wanted to curl up into his side, lay my head on his chest, and feel his fingertips run softly up and down my back. When out of the blue, he said he'd decided it would be good if we tried to remember the past, our pasts before we were together, because he didn't want me to forget my family, who I'd been, the woman he'd met when she had been human. Shocked at first, I could only guess where he'd gone those moments he had been quiet. So, I told him he didn't seem any different to me than the caring cop who had stopped to help a woman stuck with a burning car engine on the side of the road.

It was one of the rare moments we had.

Now I sat on the grass in front of the tent running over it all in my head, and waited for him. With dusk settling in on nearly our third week of solitude, Charlie had gone off on a run, or a hunt; he hadn't specified which, just that he'd be "back in a few". For some reason, he seemed different when he left this time, as if he were up to something, and the way the corners of his mouth twitched as he said it clued me in. There was something about that smirk that set my mind to what I wanted more than anything when he came back, and I would have to take the first step. Charlie had given me space, as much space as he could give me on a mountain with one tent, and fishing gear that Emmett had conveniently snuck in. He'd given me time, and was most likely willing to give me as much as I needed, and I was willing to give him the same. But now I just wanted his arms around me, and that incredible feeling that only he was able to emit. Consciously or subconsciously, I didn't care. I just needed to feel it again.

That, and I just wished I could see what Alice was seeing.

* * *

A/N: I know. Trust me, I know. ;)

For all of you that stuck with this fic, with me, a huge thank you. Yes, I'm attempting to write again, after a looooong hiatus. I profusely apologize for making you wait so long. Thanks you also to all of the PMs wondering where I went, where this fic went. If you wouldn't mind leaving your thoughts about this chapter, I'd sincerely appreciate it. I can't promise when the next will be, but know that I've already started on it. It is my intention to finish this before BD2 comes out in November, barring any illness or insanity. Or should I say _more_ insanity. ;) Love you all.


	32. Chapter 32

I'll simply say beacoup thanks to Alexis Danaan for giving me and idea for this chapter; to Hammerhips for her patience while I morphed the voices into my head into something coherent and for saying if anyone could write it, I could; and to JaspersDestiny for whipping my ass with her betaing.

The much anticipated…

* * *

**Chapter 32**

**CharliePOV - Barber, Violin Concerto, Op. 14: II. Andante**

_Just call me a vamp on a mission._

Sooo, the last three weeks.

Frustrating? Is the Pope Catholic?

Hard? Just ask my johnson.

Only so many things a guy like me can come up with to…pass the time. Just so many things you can do in an attempt to give your gal space and find –

Aw, fuck, I didn't know what I was trying to find.

Just doing what I thought would help. Yeah, I was…aggravated that first night, that first_ week_. When she walked out of that tent with the sleeping bag over her shoulders, knowing she was still buck naked underneath…well, _that _image stuck with me for days, every stinkin' inch of me ready to…

Vamp or no vamp, this shit was_ tough_.

I just _had_ to get away.

I had been a cop. I was supposed to know better, to be what she needed, to _do_ what she needed me to do. I couldn't help it if every time I looked at her, I wanted to…It had been that way, since that very first time I saw her, all confused and helpless on the side of the 121, since I pulled her out of the street and away from that speeding car, and right smack dab into my arms.

I'd never thought so much in my life, except for maybe with Renee. But even that didn't compare. She made up her mind, and left with my daughter. Done deal.

I'd never tried so hard before either. Unknown to Catherine, or the Cullens even, I'd been testing my control by running the forests and the land that I'd been born on, grown up on, hunted on, and patrolled. I knew nearly every inch of it, but being what I now was made it all different, almost new. I never went very far, but I needed to figure out myself – not only my _head_ but this new…_thing_ I was, what I was capable of, and how much of this control I really had. Picking up the smell of the wolves was easy; they stank to high heaven. I steered clear of what I knew were human hotspots, though, or heavily populated areas, but as soon as I got a whiff of them I hightailed it in a different direction. The first time I'd smelled them…yeah, that one had been difficult, almost to the point where I nearly blew it. It had been her; a quick flash of her sitting up there waiting for me to come back. How I would tell her, explain what I'd done, turned my ass in the other direction.

Running also helped me appreciate the flight response that Catherine seemed to have. As fast as we were able to run, to say it felt like flying didn't even come close, but it did have a way of clearing the mind like in a way I'd never understood before, if only because I'd never been able to do it. To _let go_. Surrounded by the Cullens, or with Catherine, I hadn't given myself time to adjust to any of it, being so damn worried about her since…well, since meeting her, really.

But I always came back to her. I'd made that promise to her, and it was a promise I wasn't going to forget.

I knew she was sitting up there on our mountain, doing what she needed to do and reading whatever she could find on that phone. When she showed me how to "surf" the web, I made sure to hit every news site I could find, even Chicago, to see what was being circulated. There had been a few things written about how Catherine went missing on a trip to Seattle, how she had been with me, and of her mom pleading to whomever had information to come forward.

I _really_ hoped she never saw that one.

Only once did she make the mistake of leaving a page up of what she'd been reading, and it had been a victim's site about her experience, her advice for relationships and sex after…

Rape.

I read that one, too.

I'd spent the next outing of mine saying that word out loud, acknowledging that my girl, my _mate_, had been raped and viciously tortured, while I was forced to watch.

That had been one of my longer runs.

I knew it was imperative to admit it to myself, not that I hadn't already, but I'd realized that I'd never said the word in our conversation, even though she had…even though Carlisle had made her. I'd read everything I could on what it might be like, what she might be thinking and how she might react. Beyond the triggers, beyond the flashbacks, there were signs and symptoms that were solely human though. I didn't know if she would feel physical pain; I doubted it, but who knew as a vampire? It's not like there was Vampipedia.

Saying it had been rough was like saying walking on hot coals was just a stroll in the park. After the weeks of believing that my touch helped her, that holding her would…make it all go away, I accepted that it wasn't enough. I didn't want her to think that it was all we had, all we were going to have, and yet spooking her again, or having her feel like she had to prove something to me, just wasn't right either.

I had to let her be, to let her go, if we were going to figure this shit out.

But getting some distance, some perspective, when you're secluded on the side of mountain, miles away from family, is _hard_. Not to mention because you're a newborn vampire, you may take out a human if one just happens to cross your path. I'd been in some jams in my life, serious jams, but this one…this one had my insides tearing in two, vamp or no vamp.

Not to mention the imminent threat of the Volturi. It was only a matter of time before they realized their vampire assassin was no more. The cards had been deal, and it wasn't a hand ol' Aro would be anticipating. There were ten of us, who knew how many wolves, but I was sure as shit the Volturi had the numbers, especially if they brought more of those witnesses, as Carlisle had called them. Even though Carlisle said he'd called in reinforcements for that first meeting, if only to prove to Aro what Nessie really was, if the Volturi came again I hoped Carlisle had more phone numbers—a rolodex full. Did people still use rolodexes? There was one on my desk at the station. Something told me Carlisle was the type to keep one. A list of vamp friends was definitely not something I'd keep on a computer.

If we could round up more of us, more men, maybe it'd keep the women safe. I wasn't too keen on the idea of any of the women being involved, even being near _any_ of it, especially Bella and Catherine. But it was hard to dispute the fact that we might need them both. Bella's shield, from what I understood of it, could make all the difference, and Catherine's ability along with Edward's could give us a leg up. Then there was the issue of _how_ many vamps would be descending on Forks. _My_ town. They may have been here the first time without me knowing it, but they damn well weren't going to be again. Problem was they weren't as amenable to keeping their teeth out of people I knew. Fuck, I didn't even know if _I _was. They'd be hungry, and not just for the Cullens' asses, and they wouldn't be at all partial to the Cullens' ways.

Hell, I might be one of them, but that didn't mean I had to like the thought of them suckin' people I knew dry.

If that weren't enough, there was the news about Catherine and me. There'd been that blip on one of the sites about evidence found in my and Catherine's case being "inconclusive". The only evidence that my guys could possibly have were the sheets that had been on Catherine's bed, and what that asshole had left on them when he'd actually been in her cabin. God only knew what the results had really been, or how any information had leaked out to the media. Which either meant my guys were slipping…

Or shit was about to get serious.

Either way, if my guys had called in the bigger guns - Seattle or the Feds - things might heat up for the Cullens, and none of us needed them sniffing around right now, even if they were just doing their damndest to find us. Nothing had been said about the clothing the boys had left on the beach, and it was too soon for Alice's plan with the cell phone to have yielded results.

Time. _Shit_, that word just aggravated me even more.

We just needed time. Catherine needed time—time she may not have, time _we_ may not have. After that episode on the lake, I was damn sure she wasn't ready. That next morning, standing there naked under a sleeping bag, her hair all messed like we'd…and jumping nearly five yards away from me when I'd stood up from the ledge…it was more than a tell, even with her arms around her, holding tight to that sleeping bag. Emmett tried to sneak in by the lake with the fishing gear, not that he could really sneak. I'd seen him from my perch, where I'd been all night. He didn't even look up. He just ran in, set it down, and ran back out again. Although I knew it was Alice's doing, it was what I needed. Fishing always gave me…perspective.

So did Bubba.

Yeah, so I named my rock.

Bubba and I had many conversations those weeks, even though I kept my voice low to keep Catherine from hearing. He'd kicked my ass a few times. I'd responded by making him a tad smaller than he had been. We'd been good for each other.

But the day it poured and Catherine and I were stuck in the tent together had been…different. Her giggling had been more beautiful than anything I'd ever heard before, better than even that music of hers that sometimes floated down to me while I sat on Bubba and caught fish I would never eat again.

To see that smile, to hear that laugh…it was then that I realized what I needed to do.

I'd seen enough on my runs, and I knew exactly which ones I wanted. Every spot I remembered, every different color and kind I could possibly find, including a lot of pink, one of which would be perfect for what I had in mind. I had to show her, somehow, that while some things were different, that _we_ were different, there was one thing that would never change, never disappear, and never die.

When I finally had an armload, I stopped to bunch them together, winding some fishing line around them, although it took me a few tries before I got it around them and tied into a knot without busting the line. I took out a few of them too, so I had to run back to get more.

Damn vamp strength.

As soon as I had them all set, I ran back to the mountain clutching the bundle against my chest to protect them, just like I wanted to protect her. Forever.

I knew she'd hear me coming, so when I got in range I shoved them behind my back, not wanting her to see them. As I came up over the last ridge, she was sitting on the grass, picking at blades until she looked up at me. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to say. I hadn't thought to write anything down.

Not that I had anything to write with. Probably would've broken the damn pen anyway.

"Hi." _Yeah, that opening will blow her away._

"You're back."

"Yeah, I…" _Shit. Did vamps lose their nerve? Naw, not possible_.

I chanced getting a little closer, a lot closer actually, walking the few steps as she got up. She didn't flinch, didn't back away, and the corners of her mouth slowly stretched into a grin.

_Hurdle one cleared. _

"I sorta found these. For you." Whipping my hand around, I held out the flowers I'd picked, my eyes glued to her for any bad sign, but the grin she'd had just grew and grew, until it was that same smile like she had in the tent the other day.

"Wildflowers! Char—_Chief_…they're lovely. _Thank_ you." Her emphasis on the Chief part didn't go unnoticed. I don't think the woman fully understood what hearing that did to me.

"I have something…something important I need to say to you. I know I haven't said much these past few weeks, but that was only because—"

"It's okay. I understand." She hid her nose in the flowers as she said it, taking a whiff.

"No, I…aw, hell…" Rubbing the back of my neck, I glanced up to see her giving me a look like I had a big blood-shot eye right in the middle of my forehead.

"Bear with me here, okay?"

The concern on her face as one of her hands left the bundle and reached out to grab mine nearly did me in. "What is it? Is everything okay? The Cullens? Did something happen?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I think you'd know before I would if they came out here." I took her hand and stared at it a bit, again amazed at how soft it was and how small it was engulfed by mine. Slowly sliding my fingers over the top of it, I wasn't sure whether I was trying to comfort her, or myself.

"I know these past few weeks have been rough."

"Shhhh. There's no need for you to explain, I know—"

"Please, let me just…get this out." I placed her hand against my chest and held it there, until I found the balls to look at her in her eye. "I want to do this right, I want to do right by you, but considering our current…uh, predicament, that may not be possible, so…"

I dropped to one knee, still holding her hand. With everything I was feeling stirring like a hornet's nest and buzzing up her arm, I said, "I want you with me, by my side, my partner, for whatever this world throws at us. I have no clue what it will be, or _how_ it will be, I just know I can't do it without you."

Bowing my head for a sec to collect myself, I kissed her fingertips before gently tugging her hand and pressing it to my heart again, even if it wasn't beating anymore. She didn't hesitate to move forward, she didn't even flinch, but I could feel the nerves firing inside her. As I lifted my head back up to look at her, her eyes opened wider. It made me want to chuckle, actually, so I faked clearing my throat. "Would you do me the honor of…of marrying me, Cath? I mean, Catherine Scarlett O'Hara? I don't know how, or when, or where, but I want you to know I'm never letting you go."

Her mouth opened as if to say something, and with it a jolt shot straight into my chest where I still clutched her hand. It stayed like that, that gorgeous mouth of hers, for way too long. If I'd still been human, I'd have been pitting out.

"Uh, you're supposed to say something here."

That bottom lip of hers that had been hanging open wobbled a bit, but nothing came out. I'd started to softly run my thumb over the top of her hand again, when suddenly she dropped to her knees and threw her other arm—the bundle of flowers be damned—around my neck. "Yes. _Yes_, I'll marry you, whenever, wherever, if ever."

_Hurdle number two cleared. Sweet Jesus, thank you._

My hands which had somehow found their way to her hips, slowly moved to skim the small of her back until the energy from her nearly bowled me over. It was more intense, more positive than it had ever been, and I pulled us closer, losing myself in it, in _her_, as I kissed that spot just under her ear and mumbled into her skin, "That."

"W—what?" She'd been tilting her head as I trailed my lips along the side of her neck, but she craned back ever so slightly to look at me.

I worked my hand up underneath her curls, cradling her, as I met her now wide, almost glossy-looking eyes. "That was what I missed all these weeks. The way you make me feel. The way you're looking at me right now. More than anything."

The flowers suddenly hit the back of my calf.

"Me too," she whispered.

If I could remember the expression on her face, the look in her eyes and the way they held mine, the curl that fell just off to the right on her forehead, the way she pressed her head back a little into my hand, those lips that were just waiting…

"Fff—I mean, dammit, I almost forgot!" My sudden declaration of stupidity had that little v-thingy making its return. "Sorry, I…" I didn't want to let her go, but I did, and I reached around to my back pocket and pulled out the one flower I'd saved, holding it up to her. "It's the best I can do." She leaned back just enough to see it, her confusion growing. I took the opportunity to maneuver her left hand where it had been resting on my shoulder into mine.

_Slowly, Swan._

"Marry me. Somehow, someday," I muttered, sneaking a glance at her whilegently winding the stem around her finger. I took a deep, unneeded breath to steady my hands and slowly made one loop, then another. I pulled the ends as if it were the most delicate thing on Earth—next to her—and knotted it underneath, straightening the pink-petaled part to the top of her finger where a diamond should be when I finished. "I know it won't last forever, but it's pink, and it's—"

"Perfect."

"I love you, Catherine. Always will. No matter what happens."

For what seemed like forever, her eyes did that searching thing with mine, before her palm was on my cheek and she leaned closer.

"_That_," again I watched as the corners of her mouth stretched into a grin, "was the most romantic proposal a girl could ever ask for, and _this_ is the most beautiful ring on earth." Her expression turned serious, her eyes wandering over my face until they stopped and stared into my own. "I love you, too, no matter what happens. For eternity."

She inched her head closer even more, and I knew it was okay to finally do what I'd been wanting to do for days, weeks even.

_Just to feel them again. _

Cautiously at first, I simply brushed my lips over hers, as if they were as fragile as the makeshift ring on her finger. Even as their familiar softness sent a rush through me, I held back, until she pressed her body into mine, her mouth eager. As her fingers that had been on my cheek found their way into my hair, I couldn't ignore the zings they sent through me and slowly wrapped my arm around her tiny waist, drawing her closer to let her feel all the love I had.

It was better than a 4th of July fireworks finale.

Even as her lips parted, our tongues searching, finding, it was as if time was finally standing still for us. She gave off no reservations, none of the usual quivers that told me she was hesitant. I put everything I had into that kiss, and I kept kissing her. The softness of her tongue over my own was like being home again, and I knew some of the old Cath, the human Cath, the Cath before everything had happened to us, was finally kissing me back.

_My_ Cath.

"Help me, Chief," she said as she broke away slowly tugging at the neckline of my shirt. I knew there was more to it than just getting my shirt off, but I let go of her and raised my arms as she slowly pulled it over my head.

I found her eyes again, those beautiful golden eyes, which even in the setting sun reflected her determination. "Every step, baby."

With that, she drew my hands to her waist, squeezing my fingers over her shirt. Tugging gently at first, her slight nod gave me the go ahead I needed to slowly pull it over her head and send it flying.

_Pink. She has on a pink bra. _

Charlie, Jr., twitched.

**CathPOV - Wagner, Tristan and Isolde: Liebestod **_**and**_** Finzi, Romance for String Orchestra in E Flat Major, Op. 11**

As I lifted my arms for Charlie to pull my t-shirt off, I kept repeating in my head the words he'd just said.

_Every step, baby. Every step, baby. Every step, baby…_

He'd just ask me to marry him with flowers he had picked himself, the most precious one of all around my finger. Even though I knew the wedding of my dreams was out of the question, it didn't matter. All I wanted to do was be with him, again, and for forever.

"_That was what I missed all these weeks. The way you make me feel. The way you're looking at me right now. More than anything_." Those words he'd said to me, it was as if he'd been in my head those hours before he'd returned, and it made me bring my hand to where my heart had once beaten, the one that would always be his.

But he must've taken it the wrong way. "You okay?" His hand suddenly cupped my jaw, bringing my chin up.

"Yeah," I heard my own breathy voice say as his hand dropped from my chin to cover my own. I'd been so absorbed in my thoughts, I didn't realize my hand was actually covering one of the bite marks.

_Overcome__ them by replacing them with thoughts and actions of the love you and Charlie have for each other…_

With the memory of Carlisle's words to me, I finally looked up at Charlie. He attempted to hide his anxiety, but he couldn't hide it from me, the worry etched in every familiar corner of his face. Somewhere in the midst of it, the crinkle of his forehead, the way his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on mine, I knew what I wanted him to do.

"Kiss them, Chief. Kiss them _all_." His grip on my hand loosened, and I watched as his face went from a look of concern to one of disbelief. I could see in it his eyes—the way he looked at me, the uncertainty— even if I couldn't feel it from him. "Put your mouth where his was." I gradually withdrew my hand from beneath his and reached behind me for the back of my bra.

His hands were suddenly on my arms. "Wait!" He pulled them back until they were at my sides. "Let me," he softly said. His eyes never left mine as his hands roamed up my arms, and I noticed how smooth they were, their coarseness gone with the change. He slowly slid the pink satin from my shoulders, feather-light fingertips gliding across my skin until each strap dangled loosely against my upper arms. Those same fingertips trailed a path to the side of my neck, his eyes following the movement as he traced over the mark. I could see by the way he looked at it that he was struggling. A flashback of his own or something else, I didn't know, but I instantly reached for him, my hands landing just at the base of his ribs, feeling his indecision until his head slowly leaned in. His lips were soft, deliberate, the prickly tickle of his mustache running the same course. Nipping lightly, he trailed his tongue around my scar then down on a path to collar bone, before suddenly stopping and hesitating over the one on my breast.

"_Please_. Please do this," I whispered.

All of a sudden his arms were around my waist lifting me up as he stood, burying his face against the top of my breasts. He held me like that for I don't know how long, and everything he had been trying to hide came rushing into me. He was afraid, almost as afraid as I was. When he loosened his hold to let me slide down, his hardness was evident even through his jeans, and I realized too how badly he wanted this. With my feet now on the ground, I found his eyes, the earnest but questioning way he was looking at me, and slipped my hands between us, fiddling with the button on his jeans.

"Cath…" he pleaded, falling to his knees, his hands on my hips. So I started to undo my own jeans, getting the button undone before his hands covered mine and gradually moved them to the side. Dropping his forehead to the skin just beneath my breasts, he stayed like that for a moment, staring at the ground, my feet, _something_, and I ran my fingers through his hair.

"Chief, it's all right. I'm all right." It was the truth, and it brought his head back up to me. With a quick nod, his hands were at the front of my jeans, his fingers sliding my zipper down. His hands slipped inside my underwear and caressed the skin on my hips, stopping briefly when they reached my thighs. He held still for a moment to make sure I was still all right, and then slowly pushed them all the way down, so my jeans and underwear were at my ankles.

"Talk to me." I threw the same words out that he so often said to me. I needed to hear his voice along with his touch, but I didn't know why. His hands skimmed back up my legs, over my hips, his eyes worshipping the path of them, until he straightened fully and palmed my ass. With a gentle squeeze, his adoration flooded through me, and I grabbed for him, my hands finding the tops of his shoulders.

"You are…so beautiful." He pressed a kiss to the bite mark on my stomach, his hands working their way behind me to unhook my bra as his mouth travelled upward. "I want…I want to do to you what you did to me that first night. Taste every inch of you," he mumbled against my stomach, and even with my new vamp strength, my knees grew weak. Not from anything in the past, but from his words and the way they came from somewhere deep inside him. I couldn't help but grip his shoulders.

"What! What is it!" He must've felt something, and he suddenly stopped what he was doing and pulled back.

"Nothing. Keep going," I urged, loosening my hold just a bit. I didn't want him to be afraid anymore, if only because his fear heightened my own.

With that he stood up, his one hand sliding under my hair to my neck and the other around me, his mouth so hungry for my own he bent me backward. His tongue was so adamant, so possessive, his ache for me spread like wildfire throughout my body, the intensity going all the way to my toes.

When he finally stopped to look at me, bringing me upright, I sputtered, "M—more of that too, please," through the gentle caress of his hand still supporting the back of my neck. "But do me a favor. Lose the jeans," I tried to joke, only to relieve him of some of the apprehension I could still feel from him. I knew he was going slow, so slow, for me, but it took him barely a blink for my request to register, for his hands to leave me, and for him to get those jeans off. I couldn't help but smile a little as I kicked mine away.

"Hold on," he suddenly said, and raced to the tent, coming back out with our sleeping bag and laying it down on the grass. I watched his body, his ass, transfixed, as he knelt into the tent, and then couldn't help but look down at him, at his…as he stood back up in the middle of now-spread the sleeping bag.

A memory of that incredible night with him had my feet moving forward and my hand reaching out to touch him. But his hands were on my upper arms before I knew it, bringing my face to his. He gasped out loud as my hand found its mark before he lightly squeezed my arms.

"As…as much as I…" I slowly stroked him, his eyes closing for a moment, "want you to do that, I…" In a flash he dropped a hand down over mine, halting it with a slight hiss through his clenched teeth. I didn't want to stop, but I let him pull my hand away until both his hands were on my face. His eyes searched mine as he drew me to him, his lips softly tugging on my own. He nipped and licked his way over my jawline, that mustache working its magic, and the tingle ran through me as he nuzzled that spot on my neck, before finding his way once again to my scar. With all of the patience in the world, he traced the same path as before, over my collarbone to the one at the top of my breast. He kissed it softly, his mouth opening to skim it with his teeth, his tongue teasing my nipple.

"Chief…," I murmured, his mouth now on my other breast, sucking, his tongue flicking.

"Tell me if I need to stop," he said between kisses, following a path down my stomach, and once again dropping to his knees.

"No…no…don't…" I could barely get out the words as he found his way to the mark on my inner thigh, his one hand cupping my ass as the other wound its way between my thighs from behind, drawing them apart, my feet moving even as my fingers grasped his hair.

And that's when it happened.

His_ mouth. _Down_ there._

My hands flew to his shoulders even as the memory flashed, my fingernails digging in as I closed my eyes, concentrating hard to wipe it away.

Charlie felt it. "It's me, babe. I'm here." He suddenly halted and straightened, clutching me to him with the hand on my ass. "It's okay, we can stop," he whispered up to me, his cheek pressed to my skin.

Shaking my head, I opened my eyes again to see the top of his head, my arms going around him to hold him tighter to me. The energy from him was just like the time he saved me from running. I could feel his safety net surging through me, giving me confidence.

The images disappeared.

"No…" I trailed off as I shifted my hands back to the tops of his shoulders. Pushing a bit, I wanted to see his face, and as if he could read my mind, he loosened his hold to look up at me. Pushing more, I knelt down to him, my eyes locked on his. "Touch me," I whispered, finding his hand and timidly guiding him to where I wanted to be touched. I knew I needed to feel him, feel _something_ if we were going to go any further, but fear crept up my spine not knowing how I would respond, how my body would respond. He tried to hide the shock I could feel flowing from him, and in his eyes, which suddenly changed as his expression turned cautiously compliant with the slight tilt of his head. He held his hand there, his fingers still, until I moved them with my own, slowly at first, until he kept them going on his own. It was exactly what I needed, my head lolling back as the heat started to build deep within. But I kept my eyes locked on his until his hand tangled in my hair pulling me into another one of those toe-curling kisses.

His fingers moved in a gentle rhythm, his mouth tenderly tugging my upper and then lower lip.

"Th-therrre," I breathed into his lips, if only to encourage him. I knew he was gauging, measuring, testing with every tender stroke, until his one finger found my entrance circling the edge. Somewhere in the midst of his kiss, of my body screaming for more...

_Damian's face above my own._

My hands flew to the sides of his neck even as my lips left his, my chest heaving even though I didn't need to breathe, my fingers clutching his skin just as they had the bedding beneath them that night.

"Open your eyes, Cath. Look at me."

Charlie's voice. I swallowed hard, blinking back the image that I didn't want in my head and focused on Charlie's face instead. His arm around the small of my back clutched me tighter to him, his fingers no longer touching me.

"Ch—"

"It's me. I've got you." He voice was firm as his eyes searched every inch of my face and then stared intently into my own.

"I—I know." I cupped his jaw with my hands that had been at his neck, my thumbs skimming over the hollow beneath his cheekbones, the skin there now so smooth. The familiar stubble had been erased by the change. I could feel his love and concern, mixed with a desire he tried to quell, coming off him in waves, and my insides lit up like a fuse as it ran through me. "It's gone. _He's_ gone."

"Yes, he's gone. Burned to ashes." His dampened fingertips ran down my spine even as he still held me close, and gave me a spark of hope. Hope in that my body had responded the way it should and to him.

With that knowledge, and the rock solid evidence of what he was feeling pressing against my abdomen, I stated decisively, "I don't wanna stop."

"Alright, then." He gave me a measured look.

As his soft kiss touched my lips in reassurance, I suddenly felt his one hand leave my back. Reaching behind him to the ground and steadying himself, he laid back on the sleeping bag gently pulling me with him. Maneuvering my legs to each side of him in order to not crush that which was my ultimate goal, I sat slowly, gently, unsure of how I felt about this position or the feel of his abs between my legs. A brief memory of just a few weeks ago in the water raced through my mind.

One of his hands started caressing the top of my thigh. "We got all the time in the world," he said, gazing into my eyes until his focus slowly shifted, lowering, to study every inch of me. "I could look at you, like this, for hours, you know."

I absentmindedly drew my hand to cover the mark on my stomach.

"No, don't," he said, taking my hand away and setting it on his stomach, holding it there.

The flower on my other hand caught my attention, and I lifted it from where it had been on his chest to look at it, the tiny pink clusters so delicate but all still there, even now. So fragile, and yet so strong. I glanced back to Charlie and felt the love flowing from him even more, right up the insides of my thighs and…_there_. The corners of his mouth almost imperceptibly twitched, but I knew he was well aware of the effect he was having on me. So I ran my hand with his pledge tied around my finger up his sternum to his chest, to his heart, and slowly lowered myself to find his lips, softly pressing mine to his. "You're mine, Charles Thomas Swan." I knowingly smirked into the kiss, running my tongue over his lips before sitting up again. With that same smirk still holding, I reached behind me to palm him before twirling my thumb around his tip. A sharp intake of breath and jerk of his lower half told me even my touch had the right effect.

"Cath…" he exhaled slowly as I stared into his eyes. He slid one hand over my skin on a path from my thigh to my lower abdomen, his thumb massaging right at the crest of where I wanted him most. "You lead, baby. Show me what you want."

Oh, I wanted him. I did. But something stirred within me, deep down.

"Slowly, Cath. As much as you might think otherwise, I don't want to hurt you."

"You'll never hurt me," I answered in low voice, more sure of that than anything else. Rising up on my knees a bit, I let go of him to reach around for his hand on my stomach and guided it between my thighs.

"Wait." His hand gently held the inside of my thigh.

"_Chief_…" I inched back on my knees.

His other hand fell from my upper thigh, and just as it did he suddenly pushed up from the ground to a sitting position, and the movement automatically had me grasping at his neck. "What are you—"

"Shhh, baby." His other hand crept up my thigh, his fingers stroking me as they went until they were between my thighs again, searching, gliding. With each caress, he sent little jolts of…of something to me through his fingertips.

"Ooh!" He lifted his chin, and I couldn't help but meet his open mouth with my own as his finger once again found my entrance. This was Charlie, _my_ Chief. I knew what he was doing: making sure I was ready before—

His finger went deeper and then withdrew, each time traveling further. Even though I knelt over him, my hands gripping the back of his neck, his palm pressed at the small of my back to support me, strengthening our connection. As I moaned into his kiss, he enveloped my body, my mind, stopping his mouth only to look up at me, testing me with his eyes and his touch.

It was okay, _I_ was okay, and I let him know it by lowering myself more into his hand as our mouths fused, our tongues intertwining like we were tasting each other for the first time. He could feel it, and I could feel him, his aching for me. The feel of one finger delving deeper further, then another, had me breaking the kiss with such a moan that I hoped no one could hear. His eyes met mine, and I pushed on his shoulders, my intentions clear. I just wanted him, _all_ of him. He watched me as he slowly acquiesced, his body prone on the sleeping bag as I moved over him once more. As I reached between my legs to stroke him, the feel of him in my hand made me shudder.

"Don't close your eyes," he blurted out as his hands found my hips. I purposely rubbed the tip of him against me, if only to make sure I was ready enough.

"All right," I whispered as I slowly lowered myself, concentrating solely on his eyes and the feel of him as he entered me. A soft exhale escaped my lips as his hands squeezed my hips, stopping me for a moment.

"Slow, Cath, sl-slow..." He nearly moaned as his head arched back, his eyelids half-closing but not enough for him to lose sight of me.

_This must be torture for him._

Even as I thought it, I led him deeper still, until I reached out and braced myself against his forearms. If I'd needed to breathe, I would've been holding my breath. No, I _was_ holding my breath. I hadn't taken in a bit of air since I'd spoke, and the thought made me stop again to get my bearings. Stilling myself, I stared back at him, adjusting to the feel of him inside me. My Chief was…bigger than _him_, bigger than I remembered. Yet there was no pain, no flashbacks, just him, and so I once again slowly lowered until I had all of him inside me.

And that's when it came over us both. Charlie's head jerked up so fast, I thought he was going to shoot straight up again. The bond that was between us when he held me was nothing in comparison to our bodies being joined. Not just skin to skin, but soul to soul, our energies surging like a raging river. I quelled the questioning look he gave me with a quick nod, even as his hands on my hips gripped tighter, letting my reassurance flow into him as I said the words in my head.

_I'm fine. I'm fine._

I kept repeating the words to the cadence of my hips as I started slowly moving them, my hands sliding over his arms and to his chest as he ran his hands down my thighs and back up to my hips again.

"_Shit_…that feels so good," he whispered as he rested his head back again. "_You_ feel…so good. So damn good." With that, I could feel the motion of his hips beneath me begin to move in time with mine.

And then they came like quick blips.

_Damian over me. Damian grabbing my hips. His cold hands. That vicious smile… _

_No!_ I mentally screamed as I tried to blink the images away, keeping my focus on Charlie. My fingernails dug into his skin as I worked my hips, and he drove deeper. I could feel my body responding, my mind fighting to stay in the moment.

"T—talk to me, babe. I can _feel_ it. _You_. _Stay_ with me," he grunted out, slowing his movement.

It only drove me down to his mouth, where I covered it with my own, working my hips and grinding harder into him if only to show him I was. His arms came around me, filling me with more of that incredible sensation as our tongues worked in time to our bodies. I pressed up from his chest again, keeping my eyes on his. I could see the tension in his face and feel it in every muscle that flexed beneath me. Moving my hips again to get him right where I needed him, he responded by driving in further, faster…

That's when it started to build.

It was something from Charlie at first, gaining momentum like someone slowly pressing down on a gas pedal. Flowing from him into me, it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. But then it was inside me, like it was surging through my veins, into every cell, taking hold and gripping me in its energy.

"Babe, I'm—"

He didn't need to say it.

"Touch me…again. _Help_ me," I pleaded softly, knowing I needed more. But his thumb was already moving in determined circles right where I needed him as the tension inside me grew.

"_Charrr_…" I was only able to get out part of his name. Suddenly it wasn't his thumb stroking me, but his fingers. Faster and faster, I felt him moving inside me, hitting that spot. The energy from Charlie flowing through me was almost overwhelming, to the point I couldn't make another sound. The intensity stretched my skin, my mind, and my insides clenched so tightly around him it caused my fingernails to dig into his chest. I had been so afraid I wouldn't be able to…to…but it was as if the energy from Charlie was pushing it all away, all of the negativity, all of the fear.

For one brief flash, Damian's face threatened everything—_that smile, those teeth_—and my abdomentightened to the point that my elbows bent.

"_Chiee…!_"

And then everything I saw just…_exploded_ as every inch of me did, obliterating Damian's face into a thousand shards of flying mirrored pieces, wrenching a shriek from me as I came like I never had before.

"Cath!" Charlie flew up to a sitting position, wrapping his one arm to clutch me tightly to him, even as my hands found their way around his shoulders. All I could do was feel him, that unbelievable force, every inch of muscle under my hands and against my body coiling. As the tension inside me wound and unwound, my hips jutting with wave upon wave, his other hand pushed hard off the ground thrust into me.

"Unnnh!" He roared against the mark on my neck as I clung to him. He came with such intensity that it sent another shot of that energy shooting through me, leaving me nearly incoherent and my body shuddering with every drive into me. It was beyond words, beyond description, as the sensations ripped through us both.

"My…_God_…" Charlie mumbled against the soft peak of my breast. With his hand splayed across my back, we both rode it out, until the energy flowing between us slowly began to subside.

I could only nod against him, pressing my cheek into his hair.

As we both started to calm, another emotion welled within me, flooding me so suddenly that I didn't even know what it was. Bursting into what would've been tears if I were human, my body shook with uncontrollable sobs as the enormity of what had just happened came over me as well as the further recognition of just what this man in my arms meant to me.

"Baby, no!" Charlie's arms held me even tighter as he laid back, bringing me with him as I cried the tearless cries. "Shhhh…it's okay. It's okay. You're okay. Shhhh…" he soothed, rubbing my back as he felt me break, a secondary release of everything that had been pent-up inside, the relief washing over me.

"Shhhh…" he repeated again as I buried my face in the base of his neck. He held me like that forever, quieting the inner chaos with the immensity of his love, his understanding, and his touch. Seeing Damian's face broken into a million pieces in my head was more than just liberation. Having seen it happen knowing, it had been Charlie and all of his _love_ made me feel like _he_ had destroyed_ him_. It had been everything I needed. _Charlie_ had been everything I needed, and I cried more. The penultimate connection between us, as close as we could possibly ever be, had obliterated _him_, and that revelation made me hold tighter to Charlie. He gathered my closer still, concern emanating from him.

When I settled down enough, and when I had enough understanding of what had just happened, I pressed my lips to the side of his neck. "I love you," I whimpered, "so much," letting him feel it too with every part of me that touched him. I worked my way over his jaw to his lips, and he combed his fingers through my hair as he softly nipped back at mine.

"Not more…than I…love you," he sighed thoughtfully as his head dropped back to the ground. For a moment, we just stared into each other's eyes. His one hand pushed back the hair from my face, until it was cupping my cheek, his thumb running over where tears hadn't fallen.

"You were…incredible," he whispered. "That was…"

"Beyond words." I finished for him.

The corners of his mouth inched upward into a grin. "Tell me you felt that…that…whatever it was between us."

I nodded slowly, searching his eyes and then every inch of his face before gazing at him again.

"Whatever that was, it…I saw _him_…at the end."

"You—" He clamped down on the small of my back.

"Shh, lemme finish." My fingertips raced to his lips, emphasizing for him to shush, until I lightly brushed them over his mustache. "_His_ face. It was like…it exploded into a million pieces just as I…" I lowered my eyes, unable to fully explain it.

"So _that's_ what that was."

I glanced back at him, and a look of astonishment was all over his face. "Did you feel…before that? I mean, did you know what you were doing to me?"

He shook his head slightly and then stopped. I could feel the confusion in him swirling, his eyebrows coming together as his gaze drifted from me up to the night sky. "I just sent you everything I had, everything I could. I know I kept thinking I wanted him out of your mind, as far away from you as I could get him."

"Well, you were successful." I rested my head back down on his shoulder, and his fingers started a path up and down my spine. "It felt incredible, like you were pushing something into me. Not like that first time, but like…a barrier that was flowing through me. I thought I was going to burst."

Charlie let slip a chuckle. "You did."

"Yeah. So did you." I smiled even though he couldn't see it, and I slid my hand over the side of his neck, feeling more than hearing him laugh.

He grew quiet for a moment, his humor changing to something altogether different.

"I knew I had to let you get there on your own. I've known it since that night with Nessie. One of your triggers."

I popped my head up to look at him as he continued.

"Lying on your back. It set off the flashbacks for you with us. I couldn't let you go there. You needed to control it…the situation…_us_. It's why I never let you…it's why I held you, knelt before you. You needed to be the one with…with all of the power."

My eyes wandered from his as his words brought me clarification and comprehension. Charlie was right. My Chief's powers of observation went well beyond the badge, and I wondered if he even recognized how much he had done for us. For _me_.

He slid his hand down under my hair and gently massaged the back of my neck, until I stared back into what were now his sated eyes. "My knight in shining armor." I caught his lower lip between mine to punctuate my point.

"And you're extraordinary, my damsel. No, not damsel…" His eyes searched the sky again as if he were trying to come up with something profound. "I got it. I'm going to call you my Triple F from now on."

"Triple F?" I gave him a look wondering just _what_ one of those Fs stood for.

"Fabulous and Fierce Fiancé, dirty girl."

I grinned naughtily at him. "Mmm, I see. Fabulous and fierce, I like. Fiancé, I _love_." I gave him a full-on smile even when he lifted his head to press his lips to mine.

"Triple F, you're the strongest woman I've ever known."

"You make me strong. Strong_er_." Glancing beyond him, off into the distance, I suddenly remembered my ring, and I lifted my hand from his shoulder. A few of the petals were gone, but most of it was still there, still beautiful, and still mine.

"I'll find more. I'll tie one on your finger every sunrise for the start of another day with you until I can get you a real one. I promise."

"I'll always love this one the most, even if it's just a green stem around my finger." I kissed him once more, this time with more fervor, letting him feel how much what he'd just said meant to me.

Nestling myself back into his arms, I sensed him still inside me, and I smiled to myself feeling his contentment and mine. Although the memories of Damian and what he'd done to me and Charlie would always be there, he would never again come between me and my Chief.

"Stay still, wiggleworm." He was using his cop voice, and it sent a jolt of lust right through me. I wiggled my lower half just a little more.

This time, it was a vibration that flooded me, but mainly between my legs. _Within_ me.

"Your lightsaber is humming, Han." It was my best straight man voice.

"Han…? _Han_ didn't have a lightsaber," he replied in a low sexy tenor, sitting us both up in a whoosh that triggered a surprised gasp from me. The sly grin that he tried to hide was pointless, and I touched the corner of his mouth softly, running my fingers over his lips.

"_Mine_ does," I nearly whispered as I watched his lips part, my fingertips disappearing into his hair so I could meet them with my own.

It suddenly occurred to me it was a _very_ good thing we didn't need to sleep.

* * *

**A/N:**

I'd love to know what you thought, even if it's one word. Thanks much for reading.


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